Department of Entomology Applied Nematology, Ecology and Acoustical Signatures

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ORDER TRIPLONCHIDA

Family Prismatolaimidae

Genus Prismatolaimus

Genus Prismatolaimus de Man, 1880

Description:  “Prismatolaimidae.  Body length 0.4-1.9 mm.  Cuticle thin, finely annulated with scattered setae.  Head with ten cephalic setae in one circle, or in two circles very near ech other; six longer setae articulate and four shorter non-articulate.  Stoma usually wide, prismatic, rather cuticularized, in its base a small dorsal tooth and two sub-ventral swellings with or without rasp-like structures.  Amphids tranversal slits at about 2-3 cephalic diameters from anterior end.  Pharynx cylindrical, with weak tranverse fields.  Posterior to cardia, a small organ with a dorsal pore (organellum dorsal) may be present (Andrassy, 2003).  One or two ovaries consisting of few cells.  Mature eggs one at a time, 2-5 body diameters long.  Male very rare, diorchic, with 11-46 small supplements in the posterior region of body, but in some species extending up to the pharyngeal region.  Anterior end of spicules embedded in muscle tissue; gubernaculums thin.  Tail filiform in both sexes (c’=8-40); tail tip with a hook-like mucro. Type species P. intermedius (Butschli, 1873) de Man, 1880. Soil and limnic species” From Zullini 2006

“Definition:  Monhysterinae.  Cuticle with fine transverse striae, without body bristles.  Amphids slit-like and obscure.  Head not offset but with 2 circlets of 6 long and 4 shorter bristles respectively; lips rounded with a terminal circlet of 6 minute apical papillae.  Stoma less than a head-width long, fairly wide with cuticularized walls; its base sometimes with denticulated cushions and a small dorsal tooth.  Oesophagus cylindrical with a more or less spherical oesophago-intestinal cell group.  Female gonads reflexed, paired and opposed, or single.  Spicules paired and slightly arcuate; gubernaculum absent.  A series of pre-anal, mid-ventral supplements extend as far forward as the oesophageal region.  Caudal glands and a terminal duct present.” From Goodey, 1963

References:

T. Goodey and J.B. Goodey. 1963. Soil and Freshwater Nematodes.  Butler and Tanner Ltd, London, Great Britain

Powers T. and P. Mullin. Plant and Insect Parasitic Nematodes. University of Nebraska Nematology Website. http://nematode.unl.edu/ Photo Gallery- Haughton Crater

Zullini A.  2006.  Order Triplonchida.  In: Eyualem Abebe, Traunspurger W., and Andrassy I. (eds) Freshwater Nematodes: Ecology and Taxonomy. CABI Publishing, Cambridge, MA, pp. 293-325