Axonchium neoeletum Rahman, Jairajpuri & Ahmad 1985
Creators: name: Naz, Tabbasam
name: Ahmad, Wasim
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Nematoda
Adenophorea
Dorylaimida
Belondiridae
Axonchium
Axonchium neoeletum

description: Axonchium neoeletum Rahman, Jairajpuri & Ahmad, 1985
(Fig. 5–6)
Measurements. Table 3.
Characters Female Males Paratype female Paratype male Description. Female: Cuticle 2 µm thick at mid body and 6 µm thick on tail. Lateral chords about one-fourth of body width at mid body.
Lip region offset by constriction, about one-fifth as wide as body width at neck base; lips separate. Amphids cup-shaped, their aperture slightly less than one lip region width. Odontostyle about one lip region width long. Odontophore 1.5 times the odontostyle length. Anterior part of pharynx muscular, separated from the posterior expanded part by a deep constriction or abutting it, the latter occupying 64% of total neck length. Cardia conoid, about one-half of the corresponding body width long.
Anterior genital branch represented by uterine sac, measuring 87 µm long and filled with sperms. Posterior branch well developed; ovary reflexed, not reaching the oviduct-uterus junction, measuring 80 µm; oviduct measuring 90 µm, consisting of a long slender part with prismatic cells and a slightly wider pars dilatata with wide lumen; well developed sphincter present at oviduct-uterus junction. Uterus measuring 80 µm, tripartite, having distal and proximal dilated parts with wide lumen and an intermediate narrower tube-like part with narrow lumen. Vagina slightly bent posteriad extending inwards slightly more than half of the corresponding body width; pars distalis vaginae well developed, about as long as pars proximalis vaginae; pars refringens vaginae absent. Prerectum about seven times anal body width long. Rectum about one anal body width long. Tail broadly rounded, 0.8 times anal body width long. Caudal pores two on each side.
Male: Spicules dorylaimoid, ventrally curved with blunt distal end, 1.7–1.8 times the cloacal body width in length. Lateral guiding pieces sclerotized, slightly curved with bifurcated distal ends, about one-third of the spicule length. Supplements an adcloacal pair and six to seven irregularly spaced ventromedians, starting within the range of spicules. Prerectum about 6–7 times and rectum 1.1–1.2 times cloacal body width in length, respectively. Tail broadly rounded, 0.7–0.9 times cloacal body width long. Two caudal pores on each side.
Habitat and locality. Soil around the roots of forest trees (unidentified) from Lathan, district Lohit, Arunachal Pradesh, India. GPS coordinate 27.90645/96.17432; latitude 27o54’E, longitude 96o10’ N.
Remarks. Rahman et al. (1985) described this species from Meghalaya, India. The present population conforms well to the type population except for having a slightly shorter anterior uterine sac (G1=6.1% vs 7–9%). A paratype female and a male of this species available in the collection of the Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University were also examined and were found to fit well with the present population except for having slightly more posterior vulval position (V = 52.8 vs 49.9) and slightly shorter anterior uterine branch (G1= 6.1% vs 7.7%). This species closely resembles A. elegans Jairajpuri, 1964 and A. eletum Dhanachand & Jairajpuri, 1981. From A. elegans, it differs in the size and shape of spicules (vs spicules 1.5 times cloacal body width long with unusually wide distal end), and in the shape of the lateral guiding pieces and greater number of ventromedian supplements (vs lateral guiding pieces rod-like with bifid distal ends and four ventromedian supplements). From A. eletum, this species differs in the shape of vagina and in having a proximal constriction in the anterior uterine sac; in the shape of lateral guiding pieces (vs lateral guiding pieces almost straight without sclerotization); irregularly arranged and fewer ventromedians (vs nine ventromedians in two groups of three and six). This is the first report of this species after its original description.
description: Published as part of Naz, Tabbasam & Ahmad, Wasim, 2012, Description of two new and five known species of the genus Axonchium Cobb, 1920 (Nematoda: Dorylamida) from India with diagnostic compendia and keys to species of the genera Axonchium and Syncheilaxonchium Coomans & Nair, 1975, pp. 1-37 in Zootaxa 3264 on pages 12-16, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.215075