Family Oncholaimidae
Revised 04/27/24
Enoplea Inglis 1983
Enoplia Pearse, 1942
Enoplida Filipjev, 1929
Oncholaimina De Coninck, 1965
Oncholaimoidea Filipjev, 1926
Oncholaimidae Filipjev, 1916
Free-living marine nematodes. Several species reported from coastal mangrove swamps.
Ref: Smol et al 2013 The Oncholaimidae has more than 300 species and is one of the largest families of the Class Enoplida. The species are widespread in the seas and oceans of the world, especially in intertidal regions and the upper part of the sublittoral regions. They also occur in freshwater lakes, rivers and even underground waters. The Oncholaimidae can be represented as seven subfamilies (Adoncholaiminae, Krampiinae, Octonchinae, Oncholaimellinae, Oncholaiminae, Pelagonematinae and Pontonematinae), differentiated by features such as the number and length of teeth, the position of the largest tooth, the structure of the female reproductive system, and the presence and development of the demanian system (Smol & Coomans, 2006; Smol et al., 2014). The Demanian system is a set of canals, junctions and pores unique for some genera of Oncholaimidae. The system differs from simple (primitive) to more complex (advanced) in different genera and species. The Demanian system features in "traumatic insemination" in which the male uses spicules and secretions to puncture the cuticle of the posterior of the female to form a copulatory pore. Sperm are released into the pore. The sperm injected into the female move through terminal ducts and reach the main duct of the Demanian system. The sperm move forward in the main duct to the uterus through the uvette and ductus uterinus. Eggs are fetrilized in the uterus ( Coomans et al., 1988; Tchesunov, 2015). |
Oncholaomidae - anterior |
Ref: Neres, et al., 2014.
Neres, P.F., Da Silva, M.C., Miranda-Junior, G.V., Fonseca-Genevois, V., Esteves, A.M. 2014. Five new species of Oncholaimellus (Oncholaimidae: Nematoda) from north-east Brazil, with an emended diagnosis and an updated key to the genus . J. Marine Biol, Assoc. UK 94:703-727.
Smol N. and Coomans A. 2006. Order Enoplida. In Eyualem-Abebe Traunspurger W. and Andrassy I. (eds) Freshwater nematodes: ecology and taxonomy. Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing, pp. 225–292.
Smol, N., Muthumbi, A., Sharma, J. 2014. Order Enoplida, 7.3. In Schmidt-Rhaesa, A. (ed) Handbook of Zoology. De Gruyter, Berlin
Tchesunov, A.V. 2015. Free-living nematode species
(Nematoda) in hydrothermal sites of the North Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Helgoland
Marine Research 69:343-384.