Enchodelus (Enchodelus) microdoroides Baqri & Jairajpuri, 1974

MAQSOOD AHMAD & M. SHAMIM JAIRAJPURI, 1980, A REVIEW OF THE GENUS ENCHODELUS THORNE, 1939 WITH DESCRIPTIONS - OF SPECIES FROM INDIA, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 15, pp. 1-42 : 20-22

11. Enchodelus (Enchodelus) microdoroides Baqri & Jairajpuri, 1974

( Fig. 2 . A-K)

Dimensions: Table 1

Description:

Female: Body ventrally curved upon fixation. Cuticle finely striated, its thickness 2-3 ttm on · body and 6-9 ttm on tail tip. Body pores indistinct.

Lip region set off from body by a slight depression, 1 /3rd as wide as body at the base of oesophagus, about thrice as wide as high. Amphids cup-shaped with slit-like apertures occupying more than 2/3rds of lip-width. Odontostyle 38-42 ttrn or 3 times of lip-width, its aperture about 1 / 16th of its length. Guiding ring 2.0-2.5 headwidths from anterior end. Odontophore nearly equal to odontostyle length with very prominent flanges at its base. Maximum width' of flanges 7-% ttm.

Basal expanded part of oesophagus occupying about 1 /3rd of neck length. Location of oesophageal gland nuclei and their orifices as given in Table III. Nerve ring surrounding anterior slender part of oesophagus near middle of neck length. Cardia hemispheroid, about 8.-10 ttm long, surrounded by intestinal tissues. Prerecturn about 2.4-3.0 and rectum about one anal body-width long.

Vulva a transverse slit, vagina about one half body-width deep and with cuticularization. Gonads arnphidelphic. A well developed sphincter present between uterus and oviduct. Ovaries refiexed, oocytes arranged - in a single row except in the growth region. Uterine eggs measure 55 x 25 ttm.

Tail 0.6-0.8 anal body-width long, convex-conoid with well developed anal muscle and two caudal pores on each side. There are 10-30 pairs of saccate bodies present on both sides of the tail in majority of the specimens, but in some these may be absent.

Male: Supplements an adanal pair and 10 ventromedians, the latter spaced at irregular intervals extending to about 7 tail lengths. Spicules 45-50 Ilm along median axis. Wen developed lateral guiding pieces present. Copulatory muscle bands occupying the area up to the last ventromedian supplement. Prerectum begins from the third ventromedian supplenlent, about four anal body-widths long.

Habitats and localities: Table I .

Remarks: Five populations of this species were collected from high altitudes in different parts of Uttar Pradesh. In all 46 specimens including two males were found. This is the first record of the males of this species. TJle females of these five populations agree well with the description of the species as given by Baqri & Jairajpuri (1974) based on the specimens collected in Bharmar and Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh. However, there are minor variations in body dimensions between these populations and those studied by Baqri & Jairajpuri (I.e.). The tails of the present populations are usually provided on both the sides with a variable number (10-30 pairs) of saccate bodies which were not recorded in the type population. Not only the number of these peculiar structures was variable but also they were totally absent on some specimens which indicates their highly variable nature. Some authors have used their presence/absence and, if present, their numbers as important specific characters. The present observations show that it is not a reliable character.

Figures

Clã! Ã - Enchodelus Enchodelus microdoroides A Entire female. B Fig.2 () () () Entire male, I IÉ' B' (C) Head end. (D) Head end (dorsoventral), (E) Head end showing amphid. (F) Expanded part of oesophagus, (G) Posterior female sexual branch, (H & I) Female tail ends, (J) Male tail end, (K) Spicule.