Rev. 06/16/2026
Cuticle smooth, with scattered somatic setae and papillae, sometimes striated.
Inner labial papilla usually papilliform
Six outer labial setae and four cephalic setate in a single circle
Amphids pocket-like; external aperture oval or widened ellipsoid.
Buccal cavity spacious, surrounded by collar of pharyngeal tissue
Stoma open with thick cuticular walls.
Stoma armed with one dorsal and two subventral immobile teeth,and sometimes transverse rows of small denticles.
Pharynx muscular, cylindrical, sometimes with a series of muscular bulbs posteriorly; pharynx outline smooth, not crenellate; three pharyngeal gland open through teeth.
Primarily marine and brackish water nematodes.
Assumed to be predators.
Smol et al., 2014; Pastor De Ward et al., 2015
Maggenti, A.R. 1981. General Nematology. Springer Verlag, New York.
Pastor De Ward, C.T., Lo Russo, V., Villares, G. 2015. Patagonema iubatum gen. nov. and sp. nov. (Nematoda,Oncholaimidae, Octonchinae) from Patagonia sandy beach (Argentina). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 95:101-109. doi:10.1017/S0025315414000708
Smol, N., Muthumbi, A., Sharma, J. 2014. Order Enoplida, 7.3. In Schmidt-Rhaesa, A. (ed) Handbook of Zoology. De Gruyter, Berlin