Family Phanodermatidae

                                 Revised 06/13/26

Classification:

Phylum Nematoda

Class Enoplea

Subclass Enoplia

Order Enoplida

Suborder Enoplina

Superfamily Enoploidea

Phanodermatidae Filipjev, 1927

Type genus of the family: Phanoderma Bastian, 1865

A family of free-living marine nematodes, only known from marine environments; some from deep sea, others from coastal sites..

The current systematics of the Phanodermatidae is based on the structure of the cephalic region, pharynx and spicules. These features have overlapping ranges and are found in other enoplids. In addition, many species descriptions are insufficient, describing too few characteristics and providing poor illustrations of the important cephalic and spicule structures, and many species are described from females only (Platonova 1984; Zograf et al., 2015).

General characteristics of the family (Smol et al., 2014).

• Buccal cavity small with one small dorsal and two large ventrosublateral teeth that all point forward (it is unclear whether the teeth protrude freely in the buccal cavity or whether they only represent thickenings of the wall).
• Dorsolateral + ventrolateral orthometanemes, a few loxometanemes (type I), caudal filament absent.
• Cephalic capsule strong or weak.
• P posterior part of pharynx wall crenate. Pharyngeal glands open immediately posterior to the buccal cavity. Excretory-secretory gland usually present and confined to the pharyngeal region.
• Females didelphic-amphidelphic with antidromously reflexed ovaries.
• Males diorchic with opposite testes on left of intestine, precloacal tubule present or absent.

Per Platonova (1984), genera of the family can be distinguished based on six configurations of the cephalic capsule

• Type I: cephalic and stomodeal capsule poorly developed, formed by compressed cuticle and vestibulum supported by buccal rods. (e.g., Dayellus Inglis, 1964).
• Type II: cephalic capsule longer, with small branches on anterior end of stomodeal capsule (e.g., Phanodermopsis Ditlevsen, 1926).
• Type III: cephalic capsule similar to type II, with branches of stomodeal capsule longer (e.g., Crenopharynx Filipjev, 1934).
• Type IV: cephalic capsule surrounded by a band of sclerotized granules (e.g., Paraphanoderma Inglis, 1971).
• Type V: cephalic capsule divided into two parts with the anterior part short, thick-walled without deep grooves or long lobes and a posterior part with thinner walls and longitudinal striations (e.g., Phanoderma Bastian, 1865); this cephalic capsule is well developed with dorsal and ventral tropises.
• Type VI: cephalic capsule is similar to type V with uniformly thick walls; however, the posterior end of the capsule has deep grooves and four long lobes with the lateral lobes longer than the dorsal lobes (e.g., Metaphanoderma Platonova, 1984b).

Two subfamilies:

Crenopharynginae Platonova, 1976: Cephalic and pharyngeal capsules poorly developed   There are several genera in the subfamily.

Phanodermatinae Filipjev, 1927: Cephalic and pharyngeal capsules well developed. The pharyngeal capsule has one small dorsal and two large subventral outgrowths that point forward. The subfamily currently has two genera, Phanoderma Bastian, 1865 and Metaphanoderma Platonova, 1984.

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References

Andrassy, I. 2009. Free-living Nematodes of Hungary (Nematoda Errantia) Vol. 111. Humgarian Natural History Museum, Budapest. 508p.

Golden, A.M. and D.G. Murphy, 1967. Encholaimoidea (Nematoda: Dorylaimida), a new superfamily representing dorylaimid specimens with cephalic setae. Proc. Helmith Soc Washington. 34:94-98.

Platonova, T.A. 1984. Materials for revision of the family Phanodermatidae (Enoplida, Nematoda). Zoolgicheskii zhurnal, 63:507–516. [in Russian]

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

Zograf, J.K., Trebukhova, Y.A., Pavlyuk, O.N. 2015. Description of new species of Phanodermopsis (Enoplida, Phanodermatidae) with key to genera of family Phanodermatidae and pictorial key to Phanodermopsis species. Zootaxa 4032:277-289.

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