SYNOPTIC DESCRIPTION OF THE PHYLUM NEMATOMORPHA

SYNOPTIC DESCRIPTION OF THE PHYLUM NEMATOMORPHA (VEJDOVSKY 1886)

EUKARYA> UNIKONTA> OPISTHOKONTA> ANIMALIA> BILATERIA> PROTOSTOMATA> ECDYSOZOA> NEMATOIDA> NEMATOMORPHA

PHYLUM NEMATOMORPHA LINKS

The following information came from Margulis and Schwartz (1998), Buchsbaum (1938), Barnes (1980), Barnes (1984), Brusca and Brusca (2003), Hickman (1973), Storer and Usinger (1965), and Tudge (2000).

I. SYNONYMS: horsehair worms.

II. NUMBER: > 250 species known.

III. PHYLUM CHARACTERISTICS:
- A. Structure
  - Symmetry: Bilateral
  - Body Cavity: Pseudocoelom often occluded by mesenchyme.
  - Body Covering: Complex cuticular layers (usually of collagen (text with tooltip) ); no superficial annulations.
  - Support: Hydrostatic skeleton and cuticle.
  - Digestive System: Food tube degenerate and non-functional.
  - Circulatory System: Absent.
  - Locomotion: Longitudinal muscles (no circular) underlie cuticle. Move with characteristic s-shaped movements.
  - Excretory System: Absent.
  - Nervous System: Anterior nerve ring and ventral single, non-ganglionated nerve cord.
  - Endocrine System: None.
- B. Reproduction:
  - Reproductive System: Most are dioecious (text with tooltip) . Fertilization internal.
  - Development: Zygote develops by determinate, spiral cleavage. Larval stages with stylets (text with tooltip) .
- C. Ecology: Brief free-living stage when adult and larvae parasites of arthropods. One genus is marine and parasitizes crustaceans.

LITERATURE CITED

Aguinaldo, A. M. A., J. M. Turbeville, L. S. Linford, M. C. Rivera, J. R. Garey, R. A. Raff, and J. A. Lake. 1997. Evidence for a clade of nematodes, arthropods and other moulting animals. Nature. 387:489-493.

Barnes, R. D. 1980. Invertebrate Zoology. Saunders College/Holt, Rinehart and Wilson, Philadelphia.

Barnes. R. S. K. 1984a. Kingdom Animalia. IN: R. S. K. Barnes, ed. A Synoptic Classification of Living Organisms. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA. pp. 129-257.

Blaxter, M. L., P. De Ley, J. R. Garey, L. X. Lie, P. Scheldeman, A. Vierstraete, J. R. Vanfleteren, L. Y. Mackey, M. Dorris, L. M. Frisse, J. T. Vida, and W. K. Thomas. 1998. Nature. 392: 71-75.

Brusca, R. C. and G. J. Brusca. 2003. Invertebrates. Sinauer Associates, Inc. Sunderland, Mass.

Buchsbaum, R. 1938. Animals Without Backbones, An Introduction to the Invertebrates. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago.

Dorris, M., P. De Ley, and M. L. Blaxter. 1999. Molecular analysis of nematode diversity and the evolution of parasitism. Parasitology Today. 15(5): 188-193.

Giribet, G., C. W. Dunn, G. D. Edgecombe, and G. W. Rouse. 2007. A modern look at the Animal Tree of Life. Zootaxa. 1668: 61-79.

Hickman, C. P. 1973. Biology of the Invertebrates. The C. V. Mosby Company. Saint Louis.

Lartillot, N. and H. Philippe 2008. Improvement of molecular phylogenetic inference and the phylogeny of Bilateria. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. 363: 1463-1472.

Margulis, L. and K. Schwartz. 1998. Five kingdoms, an illustrated guide to the phyla of life on earth. 3rd Edition. W. H. Freeman and Company. New York.

Nicholas, W.L. 2001b. The pseudocoelomate Ecdysozoa. In: Anderson, D.T., ed. Invertebrate Zoology. Oxford University Press. Oxford, UK. pp. 98-119.

Nielsen, C. 2001. Animal Evolution: Interrelationships of the Living Phyla. 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [L]

Noble, E. R. and G. A. Noble. 1976. Parasitology, The Biology of Animal Parasites. 4th edition. Lea and Febiger. Philadelphia.

Pechenik, J. A. 2005. Biology of the Invertebrates. McGraw-Hill. New York.Schmidt-Rhaesa, A. 1998. Phylogenetic relationships of the Nematomorpha – a discussion of current hypotheses. Zoologischer Anzeiger 236:203-216.

Philip, G. K., C. J. Creevey, and J. O, McInerney. 2005. The opisthokonta and ecdysozoa may not be clades: stronger support for the grouping of plant and animal than for animal and fungi and stronger support for the coelomata than edysozoa. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 22(5):1175-1184.

Philippe, H., N. Lartillot, and H. Brinkman. 2005. Multigene analyses of bilaterian animals corroborate the monophyly of Ecdysozoa, Lophotrochozoa, and Protostomia. Mol. Biol. Evol. 22: 1246-1253.

Schmidt-Rhaesa, A. 1997. Nematomorpha. In: Schwoerbel, J. and P. Zwick, eds. Susswasserflora von Mitteleuropa. Vol 4/4. Gustav Fisher Verlag. Stuttgart. pp. 1-124.

Schmidt-Rhaesa, A. 1998. Phylogenetic relationships of the Nematomorpha – a discussion of current hypotheses. Zoologischer Anzeiger 236:203-216.

Schmidt-Rhaesa, A. 2002. Two dimensions of biodiversity research exemplifoed by Nematomorpha and Gastrotricha. Integ. and Comp. Biol. 42: 633-640.

Schmidt-Rhaesa, A. D. G. Biron, C. Joly, and F. Thomas. 2005. Host-parasite relations and seasonal occurrence of Paragordius tricuspidatus and Spinochordodes tellinii (Nematomorpha) in Southern France. Zool. Anzerg. 244: 51-57. [C]

Storer, T. I. and R. L. Usinger. 1965. General Zoology. 4th Edition. McGraw-Hill Book Company. New York.

Telford, M. J. S. J. Bourlat, A. Economou, D. Papillion, and O. Rota-Stabelli. 2008. The evolution of Ecdysozoa. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. 363: 1529-1537.

Thomas, F., A. Schmidt-Rhaesa, G. Martin, C. Manu, P. Durand, and F. Remaud. 2002. Do hairworms (Nematomorpha) manipulate the water seeking behaviour of their terrestrial hosts? J. Evol. Biol. 15: 356-361.

Tudge, C. 2000. The Variety of Life, A Survey and a Celebration of all the Creatures That Have Ever Lived. Oxford University Press. New York.

Webster, B. L., R. R. Copley, R. A. Jenner, J. A. Makenzie-Dodds, S. J. Bourlat, O. Rota-Stabelli, D. T. J. Littlewood, and M. J. Telford. 2006. Mitogenomics and phylogenomics reveal priapulid worms as extant models of the ancestral Ecdysozoan. Evol. Dev. 8: 502-510.

By Jack R. Holt and Carlos A. Iudica. Last revised: 02/03/2013

SYNOPTIC DESCRIPTION OF THE PHYLUM NEMATOMORPHA (VEJDOVSKY 1886)

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