Nematology, 2007, Vol.

9(1), 43-47

Nematodes of the order Rhabditida from India. Description of

Sclerorhabditis tridentatus gen. n., sp. n. (Nematoda: Rhabditidae)
Irfan A HMAD ∗ , Ali Asghar S HAH and Mohammad M AHAMOOD
Section of Nematology, Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002, India
Received: 4 May 2005; revised: 16 October 2006
Accepted for publication: 16 October 2006

Summary – A new rhabditid nematode, Sclerorhabditis tridentatus gen. n., sp. n. is described and illustrated. The body is small,
less than 0.5 mm, and has an unusual labial and cephalic organisation. The dorsal and ventral lips have strongly sclerotised tridentate
structures with the free ends of the forks directed towards the stoma, and the anterior margins of the lateral lips are sclerotised. An
unusual feature of this species is the contour of the cephalic border that has axillae-like structures on the lateral sides. The stoma
is wide and lacks a glottoid apparatus. The females are amphidelphic with reflexed ovaries and elongate conoid tails. Males were
not found. The new genus resembles Diploscapter and the related genus Carinoscapter in having membranous lateral lips, absence of
glottoid apparatus and amphidelphic reproductive system, but is clearly distinguishable by the shape and orientation of the sclerotisation
of the dorsal and ventral lips and by the presence of a cephalic border.
Keywords – morphology, morphometrics, new genus, new species, Rhabditina, taxonomy.

During a survey for rhabditid nematodes, a very inter-
esting species with an unusual labial sclerotisation was
collected from inside a hollow cavity in the trunk of
an avenue palm (Oreodoxa regia L.). Although resem-
bling Diploscapter Cobb, 1913 and Carinoscapter Sid-
diqi, 1998, detailed observations revealed it to be a species
which could not be assigned to any of the known genera of
Rhabditina. We, therefore, propose the genus Sclerorhab-
ditis gen. n. to accommodate this species.
The nematodes were isolated by modified sieving and
decanting and the Baermann funnel technique. They were
killed and fixed in hot 4% formaldehyde and left for 24
h, after which they were transferred to glycerin-alcohol
(5 parts glycerin, 95 parts 30% alcohol), dehydrated in
a desiccator and mounted in anhydrous glycerin. All
morphological observations, measurements and drawings
were made on an Olympus BX 50 DIC microscope.
**
Sclerorhabditis gen. n.
D IAGNOSIS
Rhabditidae. Body small, less than 0.5 mm long. Cuti-
cle finely annulated. Lip region offset, symmetrical, dor-
sal and ventral lips with fork-like sclerotisations. Free
tips of forks directed towards stoma. Lateral lips some-
what pyramidal in shape with flat sclerotised apical mar-
gins. Anterior body margin forming a cephalic collar with
deep clefts on lateral sides. Amphidial apertures indis-
tinct. Stoma long, tubular, sometimes widening anteriorly.
Cheilostom not sclerotised; gymnostom broad, evenly cu-
ticularised. Stegostom longer than gymnostom; glottoid
apparatus absent. Pharyngeal corpus broad, swollen at
base. Female reproductive system amphidelphic; vulva
slightly post-median. Tail elongate conoid. Males not
found.
T YPE AND ONLY SPECIES
Sclerorhabditis tridentatus gen. n., sp. n.
R ELATIONSHIPS
The new genus is related to Diploscapter and Carinos-
capter in body size, the modified dorsal and ventral lips,
lack of glottoid apparatus, similar pharynx, reproductive
system and tail. However, the new genus can be eas-
ily distinguished by the inwardly directed fork-shaped

∗ Corresponding author; e-mail: ahmadirfi@yahoo.co.in

** The genus name is derived from the unique sclerotisation of
the lip region and is feminine in gender.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007 43

Also available online - www.brill.nl/nemy
I. Ahmad et al.

sclerotisations of the dorsal and ventral lips and the un- Table 1. Morphometrics of female Sclerorhabditis tridentatus
usual cephalic border with axillae-like structures later- gen. n., sp. n. Measurements are in µm and in the form: mean ±
ally (dorsal and ventral lips hook-shaped, points bifid SD (range).
and outwardly directed and cephalic border absent in Character Holotype Paratypes
Diploscapter and Carinoscapter).
n – 10
L 399 400 ± 28 (356-461)
Sclerorhabditis tridentatus* gen. n., sp. n. a 20.5 16.5 ± 2.1 (14.1-21.0)
(Fig. 1) b 4.2 4.2 ± 0.2 (3.6-4.5)
c 6.6 7.6 ± 0.7 (6.6-8.6)
c 6.9 5.4 ± 1.1 (3.8-6.5)
M EASUREMENTS V 53.0 54.4 ± 2.1 (52.0-59.5)
Maximum body diam. 19 23.3 ± 1.8 (20-32)
See Table 1. Lip diam. 11 9.5 ± 1.1 (8-11)
Length of stoma 18 17 ± 1 (16-19)
D ESCRIPTION Anterior pharynx 52 55.2 ± 4.3 (49-63)
Posterior pharynx 42 40.1 ± 6.7 (32-56)
Female Pharynx 94 95.3 ± 10.4 (83-116)
Body small, almost straight when relaxed, tapering Excretory pore from 80 75 ± 5.1 (69-84)
anterior end
slightly anteriorly but more posteriorly. Greatest body dia-
Nerve ring 65 65.8 ± 4.1 (60-73)
meter at vulval region. Cuticle finely transversely annu-
from anterior end
lated, annules more pronounced in anterior and poste- Median bulb diam. 10 11.2 ± 2 (10-16)
rior region. Lateral fields wide, with two lines, beginning Basal bulb diam. 15 16.6 ± 1.8 (15-21)
at base of stoma. Labial region dome-shaped, set off by Anterior gonad 80 73.1 ± 10 (55-87)
constriction, symmetrical, 7-9 µm diam. Lips unusually Posterior gonad 65 69 ± 7.6 (60-85)
modified, dimorphic; dorsal and ventral with sclerotised Vulval body diam. 18 23 ± 3.8 (20-26)
fork-like structures with points directed towards stoma. Vulva to anus distance 127 132.5 ± 11.3 (117-158)
Lateral lips membranous, somewhat pyramidal in shape Rectum 14 14.3 ± 1 (12-16)
with flat sclerotised apical margins. Amphidial apertures Phasmids to anus 8 8.5 ± 0.7 (8-10)
indistinct. Cephalic margin of body wall well defined, di- Tail 60 53 ± 6 (45-63)
Anal body diam. 9 10 ± 1 (9-12)
vided into dorsal and ventral sectors by deep lateral clefts
resembling primary axils of cephalobids. Stoma tubular,
1.7-2.4 lip region diam. long. Cheilostom not sclerotised. equally developed, anterior on right and posterior on left
Gymnostom short, wide, walls parallel or slightly diver- side of intestine. Ovaries reflexed; flexure small, dor-
gent anteriorly. Stegostom without glottoid apparatus and sal to gonoduct or occasionally absent. Oocytes usually
denticles, 2.5-3.0 times gymnostom length. Corpus mus- arranged in two or more rows with large, prominent, nu-
cular, 59-61% of pharyngeal length. Metacorpus swollen, clei. Oviduct short, usually not clearly distinguishable be-
bulb-like, 1.0-1.7 lip region diam. in diam. Isthmus rel- cause of developing oocytes. Uterus not distinctly demar-
atively broad, encircled by nerve ring in posterior half, cated into glandular and muscular parts, distally slightly
57-74 µm from anterior end. Excretory pore located at dilated and containing sperms. Uterine eggs measuring
75-96% of pharyngeal length. Terminal bulb ovoid, mus- 25-32 × 13-17 µm. Vagina muscular, less than half cor-
cular, 1.5-2.4 times lip region diam. wide. Anterior pha- responding body diam. long. Developing uterine eggs in
rynx (measured from anterior end to base of corpus) 1.4- proximal part of uterus may cause vagina to be slightly an-
1.6 times longer than posterior pharynx (from isthmus to teriorly or posteriorly directed. Single pair of vaginal mus-
end of basal bulb). Cardia prominent, 1.5-3.0 µm long. cles present. Vulva a transverse slit with slightly raised
Intestine granular with well-defined lumen. Rectum nar- lips. Tail conoid to elongate conoid, 40-50% vulva-anus
row with closed lumen, or wide with dilated lumen. Re- distance long, tip finely rounded. Phasmids small, located
productive system amphidelphic; both genital branches 0.8-1.2 anal body diam. posterior to anus.

* The specific name is derived from the three-pronged lip Male

sclerotisation. Not found.

44 Nematology
 Sclerorhabditis tridentatus gen. n., sp. n. from India

Fig. 1. Sclerorhabditis tridentatus gen. n., sp. n. A: Entire female; B: Pharyngeal region; C: Base of pharynx showing excretory pore,
lateral field and deirid; D: Labial sclerotisation in face view; E: Labial region, lateral; F-H: Stoma; I, J: Anterior genital branches;
K: Vaginal area showing muscles; L: Lateral field at midbody; M-P: Tails.

Vol. 9(1), 2007 45

I. Ahmad et al.
T YPE HABITAT AND LOCALITY
Collected from inside a hollow in an avenue palm
(Oreodoxa regia L.) trunk containing decaying wood and
bat and bird droppings, Department of Zoology, Aligarh
Muslim University, Aligarh, India.
T YPE MATERIAL
Holotype female and nine paratype females on slides
Sclerorhabditis tridentatus gen. n., sp. n., deposited in the
Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Ali-
garh. One paratype female at the Instituut voor Dierkunde,
Rijksuniversiteit, Gent, Belgium.
R EMARKS
Sclerorhabditis gen. n. is clearly distinguishable from
the related genera Diploscapter and Carinoscapter by
the three-pronged sclerotisation in the dorsal and ventral
lips, the shape of the lateral lips and the cephalic border
with axillae-like structures. In addition, a long pharyngeal
collar and hence a long stegostom, is characteristic of the
new genus. The stegostom to gymnostom ratio varies from
2.5 to 3.0. This character could also provide an important
distinguishing feature but the ratio has generally not been
Fig. 2. Cladogram showing the phylogenetic relationship of the three genera, Diploscapter, Carinoscapter and Sclerorhabditis gen. n.
Apomorphies are designated by black squares and plesiomorphies by white squares.
46
provided by other authors. However, calculating these
values from figures it is 0.3-0.4 for Diploscapter species
(D. striatus Siddiqi, 1998; D. angolaensis Siddiqi, 1998;
D. coronatus Cobb, 1913; D. lycostoma Volk, 1950) and
0.6-1.0 in Carinoscapter (C. cornutus Siddiqi, 1998). The
new genus is clearly distinguished from Diploscapter and
Carinoscapter on this basis but the latter two genera are
not so clearly demarcated. However, unless complete and
more precise information is available for all species this
character must be used with caution.
We believe that these three genera are very closely re-
lated and that the stem species of the clade was amphidel-
phic, lacked a glottoid apparatus and had membranous
lateral lips (Fig. 2). The lip sclerotisation, with two out-
wardly directed prongs in Diploscapter and Carinoscapter
and three inwardly directed prongs in Sclerorhabditis,
represents a unique feature in Rhabditidae. From the evo-
lutionary point of view, it is difficult to say which of these
two types represents the plesiomorphic state as there are
no known outgroup taxa with such lip sclerotisation. It is
possible, and we presume it here, that each of the types
represents an apomorphic state. The deep clefts resem-
bling the primary axils of the cephalobids are a unique
feature in Rhabditina. Homologisation of these structures
with the primary axils of Cephalobina does not seem to
Nematology

be possible because of their differing numbers and posi-
tions (two lateral vs three, one ventral and two subdorsal
in cephalobids). Hence the cephalic margin is divided into
two sectors, dorsal and ventral, while in the cephalobids
there are three sectors, one dorsal and two ventrosublat-
eral.
Sclerorhabditis tridentatus gen. n., sp. n. males were
not found, although the distal part of the uterus gener-
ally contained few to many spermatozoa (Fig. 1I, J), and
sometimes so many that this part became dilated. A sper-
matheca was never present, the uterus serving the same
purpose. As many of the females were impregnated with
a varying number of sperms, the presence of males be-
comes a strong possibility, yet none was found. Whether
S. tridentatus gen. n., sp. n. is hermaphroditic or gono-
choristic may only be ascertained when more specimens
become available and the details of its biology are elab-
orated. At the moment it is not possible to put forward
any convincing argument for or against either of the two
reproductive states.
The locality of this new species is interesting in that
it was collected from a hollow cavity in the trunk of a
palm tree at a height of ca 3.8 m from ground level. With
several phoretic associations possible it seems improbable
that the nematodes moved up the trunk. The hollow
served as roosting site for small bats and also the little
owlet. In addition, the decaying matter collected from
inside contained several types of small insect. While
it may be speculative to suggest that the nematodes
could be transported on the beaks or claws or body
Vol. 9(1), 2007
Sclerorhabditis tridentatus gen. n., sp. n. from India
parts of the owlet or bats, it may be more realistic to
presume that the actual phoretic carriers were the insects,
a phenomenon that is well documented in the literature
(Massey, 1974). The species is probably bacteriophagous,
living in decaying wood with bird and bat droppings.
Acknowledgement
The financial assistance provided by the Ministry of
Environment and Forests, New Delhi, through the All
India Coordinated Project on Taxonomy, is gratefully
acknowledged.
References
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n. (Rhabditida: Diploscapteridae). International Journal of
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VÖLK , J. (1950). Die Nematoden der Regenwürmer und aas-
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