Funaria thornei Van der Linde, 1938

Ahmad, Wasim, Park, Byeong-Yong, Lee, Jae-Kook & Choi, Dong-Ro, 2009, Some new and known species of Tylencholaimoidea (Nematoda: Dorylaimida) from Korea, Journal of Natural History 43 (37 - 38), pp. 2329-2356 : 2352-2355

Funaria thornei Van der Linde, 1938

( Figures 9 and 10 ; Table 5)

Description

Female. Body slightly curved ventrad upon fixation, slender, tapering slightly towards anterior extremity. Outer cuticle thin, finely transversely striated; inner layer coarsely striated, with irregular outline and often separated from the outer cuticle. Radial refractive elements abundant. Lateral chords about one-third of body width at mid-body. Lateral pores button-shaped; four in the neck region, arranged with first near middle of odontophore, second just anterior to nerve ring, third slightly anterior to beginning of pharyngeal enlargement and fourth near base of expanded part; five to seven pores between base of pharynx and vulva, six to 10 between vulva and anus and two on tail, located at variable distance from each other either on dorsal or ventral margin; two pores always at level of vulva, one each on dorsal and ventral margin. Lip region well offset, about twice as wide as high or about one-quarter to one-third as wide as body width at neck base. Labial papillae slightly projecting above labial contour. Amphids funnel-shaped, their aperture about two-thirds of the corresponding body width, fusus 19–21 µm behind aperture. Odontostyle delicate but with clear lumen, 0.65–0.85 times the lip region width long, its aperture about one-quarter of its total length. Stoma truncate cone, slightly wider at base with slightly thickened wall, fixed ring at 0.75–0.80 times lip region width from anterior end. Odontophore slightly arched with thickened base, 1.3–1.5 times the odontostyle length. Pharynx with a slender not muscular anterior part and a basal bulb, occupying about 22.5–25% of total neck length. Pharyngeal gland nuclei and their orifices distinct. Cardia short conoid. Nerve ring located at 44–47% of neck length from anterior end. Genital system amphidelphic; both the sexual branches almost equally developed. Ovaries reflexed, measuring 63–67 µm (anterior) and 60–63 µm (posterior) with oocytes arranged in a single row except near its tip. Oviduct joining ovary subterminally, 61–72 µm (anterior) and 57–66 µm (posterior) long with distinct pars dilatata. Uterus a short undifferentiated tube, measuring 37–54 µm (anterior) and 40–47 µm (posterior). No trace of sperm either in oviduct or uterus. Vagina cylindrical, extending inwards about half of the corresponding body width; pars proximalis vaginae 11–12 µm long with almost straight to slightly convex walls surrounded by circular musculature; pars refringens vaginae appearing as a disc, measuring 4–5 by 13 µm; pars distalis vaginae with curved walls, 2 µm deep. Vulva longitudinal. Prerectum five to eight times anal body width long; intestine prerectum junction guarded by three cells. Rectum about 1.1–1.3 times anal body width long. Tail conoid with a terminal mucro, its length slightly less or more than anal body width. In the internal part of the tail there is always a terminal projection. Two pair of caudal pores present, one subdorsal and other subterminal.

Male. Not found

Habitat and locality

Soil around roots of forest trees from Uleungdo, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea.

Remarks

Van der Linde (1938) described the genus Funaria with F. thornei as its type species collected from Ithaca, New York, USA. The original description of this species was incomplete and subsequent workers either synonymized the genus with Leptonchus ( Andrássy 1963) or considered it as genus et species inquirenda ( Goodey 1963). Goseco et al. (1974), while revising the family Leptonchidae , redecribed F. thornei based on specimens originating from several localities in USA and Canada. Our record of F. thornei from Korea is probably the first record outside North America. The Korean specimens completely fit the measurements of the species provided by Goseco et al. (1974).

Figures

Figure 9. Funaria thornei van der Linde, 1938. (A) Entire female; (B) anterior region; (C) anterior end showing amphid; (D) pharyngeal region; (E) expanded part of pharynx; (F) female genital system; (G) vulval region; (H) female posterior region; (I) female posterior end.

Figure 10. Funaria thornei van der Linde, 1938. (A,B) Anterior regions; (C) anterior end showing amphid; (D,E) expanded part of pharynx; (F,G) vulval regions; (H) intestine–prerectum junction; (I) female posterior end.