Family Oxystominidae

                                 Revised 06/25/26

Classification:

Phylum Nematoda

Class Enoplea

Sub-class:  Enoplia

Order:  Enoplida

Suborder:   Ironina

Superfamily:  Ironoidea

Oxystominidae Chitwood, 1935

A family of free-living marine and freshwater nematodes.

General characteristics of the family:

• Body elongated and very narrow at the anterior end.

• Anterior sensilla in three separate circles, the second and third circle clearly separated; the inner labial sensilla papilliform or setiform, outer labial and cephalic setae very slender.

• Buccal cavity narrow, tubular or funnel-shaped and without teeth.

• Amphids unusually polymorphic among species.

• Only orthometanemes with very short caudal filament present.

• Pharynx inserts into the body cuticle in the region of the buccal cavity; however, the cephalic capsule is not well developed. Posterior section of the pharynx with an undulating outline.

• Females didelphic-amphidelphic with antidromously reflexed ovaries or monodelphic-opisthodelphic.

• Males diorchic with opposed testes or monorchic with only one anterior testis.

• Position of caudal glands variable.

Three subfamilies:

• Oxystomininae Chitwood, 1935

• Halalaiminae De Coninck, 1965

• Paroxystomininae De Coninck, 1965

    Go To Dictionary of Terminology 

References

Andrassy, I. 2007. Free-living Nematodes of Hungary II.  Hungarian Natural History Museum. 496pp.

Chitwood, B.G. 1935. Nomenclature notes: 1./ Proc. Helminth. Soc. Washingtom 2:51-54.

Goodey, T and J.B. Goodey, 1963. Soil and Freshwater Nematodes. Methuen. London

Maggenti, A.R. 1981.  General Nematology. Springer Verlag, New York.

Smol, N., Muthumbi, A., Sharma, J. 2014. Order Enoplida, 7.3. In Schmidt-Rhaesa, A. (ed) Handbook of Zoology. De Gruyter, Berlin

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