Paradesmodora immersa Wieser, 1954

Armenteros, Maickel, Ruiz-Abierno, Alexei & Decraemer, Wilfrida, 2014, Revision of Desmodorinae and Spiriniinae (Nematoda: Desmodoridae) with redescription of eight known species, European Journal of Taxonomy 96, pp. 1-32 : 18-21

Paradesmodora immersa Wieser, 1954

Fig. 9C–D , Table 2

Paradesmodora immersa Wieser, 1954: 39 .

Material examined

2 ♂♂ and 4 juveniles, deposited in the nematode collection at Centro de Investigaciones Marinas, Universidad de La Habana, CUBA.

Description

Cuticle coarsely striated (annuli ~ 1 μm width). Inner and outer labial sensilla not observable. Four cephalic sensilla setiform (~ 4 μm long) at anterior level of amphidial fovea, no subcephalic setae. Amphidial fovea cryptospiral located far forward on the head. Six longitudinal rows of short somatic setae (~1–3 μm long) running along anterior and mid body region; they become in four rows on the posterior region. Buccal cavity medium-sized, one dorsal tooth, two ventrosublateral smaller teeth. Pharynx muscular with posterior bulb and plasmatic interruptions. Cardia extended. Secretory-excretory system not observable. Tail conical, last portion without striation, short setae present, spinneret present.

Male monorchic, anterior testis to the left of intestine. Spicules curved and slightly cephalated. Gubernaculum a narrow rod. Precloacal supplements (12–16) like small marks in the ventral cuticle.

Juveniles are similar to adults, except for the development of the reproductive system.

Remarks

Measured specimens resemble the holotype of P. immersa described by Wieser (1954); unfortunately, there are no other records of this species. Specimens in Wieser (1954) were larger (male: 2200 µm; female: 2410 µm) than ours (males: 1424–2081 µm, no females measured). The number of precloacal supplements reported by this author is 15 and this fits the range of specimens in our study (12–16).

Paradesmodora toreutes has been collected from a nearby region (Florida). It can be clearly differentiated from P. immersa by: (1) the cuticular differentiation of the head (plates surrounding the amphids vs no plates); (2) the proximal end of spicule with a notch in the capitulum vs rounded shape); (3) the number of precloacal supplements (10 vs 15); and (4) longer tail in males (c´ = 6 vs c´= 3).

Figures

Fig. 9. A–B. Chromaspirina inaurita Wieser & Hopper, 1967, ♂. A. Anterior region. B. Tail region and copulatory apparatus. C–D. Paradesmodora immersa Wieser, 1954, ♂. C. Anterior region. D. Tail region and copulatory apparatus.