Thalassomermis megamphis n. gen., n. sp. (Mermithidae: Nemata) from the Bathyal South Atlantic Ocean

• Main Authors: Tchesunov, A.V., Hope, W. D.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Society of Nematologists 1997
• Subjects: Article; South Atlantic Ocean
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2619816; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19274181

Thalassomermis megamphis n. gen., n. sp. (Mermithidae: Nemata) was extracted from sediment collected off the coast of Brazil at a depth of approximately 1,000 m. Although the food of this new nematode is unknown, the reduction of the stoma and esophagus and presence of a trophosome indicate that it is parasitic in its juvenile stages. Thalassomermis megaraphis n. gen., n. sp. is assigned to Mermithidae because of its similarity to that family in the appearance of the cephalic sensory receptors, the long and tubular vagina, and copulatory muscles of the male extending posteriorly throughout most of the length of the tail. Thalassomermis megamphis n. gen., n. sp. differs from all other members of Mermithidae by the large, lenticular, intracuticular amphidial fovea with coiled, emergent terminal filaments as well as the small amphidial aperture situated over the center of the fovea.