Eudorylaimus maritus, Andrassy, 1959

Andrássy, I., 2009, Free-living Nematodes from Albania, including the description of three new species, Nematologia Mediterranea 37, pp. 73-88 : 80

EUDORYLAIMUS MARITUS Andrássy, 1959 ( Fig. 4 )

Female. L = 2.20 mm; a = 37; b = 4.0; c = 40; c’ = 1.5; V = 48%.

Male s (n = 2). L = 2.12-2.24 mm; a = 35-36; b = 3.7- 4.1; c = 46-55; c’ = 1.2-1.4.

General description. Large and slender species; body 59-62 µm wide at middle. Cuticle smooth and thick, 4-5 µm at mid-region of body. Lip region 19-21 µm wide, slightly offset, lips angular, separate. Body at posterior end of oesophagus 3.0-3.4 times as wide as head. Amphids wider than one half corresponding body width. Odontostyle 24-28 µm long, about 1.3 times longer than labial diameter; aperture occupying one-third of its length. Oesophagus 560-620 µm long, expanded somewhat posterior to its middle. Distance between oesophagus terminus and vulva somewhat shorter than oesophagus.

Female. Vulva a transverse slit with well sclerotized inner lips. Vagina strong, 38 µm long, occupying more than one-half of corresponding body width. Anterior gonad 4.4 body widths long or 12% of body length, posterior gonad 6.6 body widths long or 17% of body length. No uterine egg observed. Pre-rectum as long as 1.6 anal body diameters with a dorsal blind sack. Vulva-anus distance equal to 18 tail lengths. Tail short, 52 µm, only 2.4% of entire length of body, ventrally curved and sharply pointed on its tip. Ventral wall of tail possessing some blisters.

Male. Pre-rectum beginning within the range of supplements, proximal end dorsally sack-like. Spermatozoa spindle-shaped. Spicula 70-76 µm long. Ventromedial supplements very small, 8-9 in number. Tail similar to that of female, 48-52 µm long, ventrally curved, with some blisters in ventral cuticle.

This species is characterized by the large and fairly slender body, thick cuticle, slightly differentiated head, moderate number of supplements, and by the short, ventrally bent and sharply pointed tail provided with cuticular blisters.

Eudorylaimus maritus is a terricolous species inhabiting mosses and the soil. I described it from Hungary (Andrássy, 1959, 1960), and it was subsequently found in some other countries of Europe, viz. in Germany, Sweden, Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, Moldavia and Russia. The Albanian specimens were collected in the locality No. 8b, from soil in a beech forest.

Figures

Fig. 4. Eudorylaimus maritus Andrássy, 1959. A: anterior end; B: vulval region; C: female posterior end; D: male posterior end. (Scale bars 20 µm each).