Several kinds of abnormalities or malformations affecting the female genital system of Dorylaimid nematodes have been repeatedly reported in longidorid forms, more occasionally in free-living taxa. These anomalies include total or partial duplication of the system, a didelphic-opisthodelphic condition, total or partial reduction of one genital branch, and the existence of two (or even three) vulvae (see Table 1 for a compendium of previous records). Radivojević (2005) described and discussed with some detail the nature of these anomalies.
Malformations observed in the female genital system of dorylaims.
Anomaly | Species | Habitat | Country | Reference |
Two duplicate systems |
|
? | ? | Geraert (1963) |
|
? | Spain | Peña-Santiago (1986) | |
|
Woodland | UK–Scotland | Brown and Coiro (1984) | |
|
? | Serbia | Radivojević (1991) | |
Didelphic-opisthodelphic |
|
Alfalfa field | USA–Florida | Cho and Robbins (1990) |
Loss of anterior genital branch |
|
Alfalfa field | USA–Florida | Cho and Robbins (1990) |
Vulvaless |
|
? | Serbia | Radivojević (1991) |
Two vulvae |
|
|
Poland | Kornobis (2012) |
|
? | ? | Barsi (1994) | |
|
Vineyard | Slovenia | Sirca et al. (2007) | |
|
Coffee | Sao Tome | Lamberti et al. (1987) | |
|
? | ? | Jairajpuri and Ahmad (1969) | |
|
? | ? | Loof (1969) | |
? | ? | Valocká and Sabová (1980) | ||
|
? | ? | Jairajpuri and Ahmad (1969) | |
|
? | Serbia | Radivojević (1991) | |
|
? | ? | Barsi (1994) | |
Peach orchard | Czech Republic | Kumari and Decraemer (2009) | ||
|
Fig | Italy | Catalano (1991) | |
|
? | Yugoslavia | Radivojević (1991) | |
|
Vineyard | Italy | Coiro and Lamberti (1980) | |
? | ? | Barsi (1994) | ||
Apple orchard | Czech Republic | Kumari and Decraemer (2006) | ||
Apple orchard | Czech Republic | Kumari and Decraemer (2009) | ||
Three vulvae |
|
? | ? | Valocká and Sabová (1980) |
One female of the genus
Leaving aside the absence of vulva and vagina, the general morphology (Fig. 1) and morphometry (Table 2) of this female are totally comparable to those observed in other females of the same population. In particular, the length of neither its genital branches (anterior 324 µm or 18% of body length, posterior 362 µm or 20% of body length) nor ovaries (anterior 107, posterior 87 µm) differ from those of normal females (207–368 µm or 13–20% of body length, 43–180 µm, respectively). Nonetheless, some differences are observed in the morphology of genital tract. On one hand, the posterior oviduct appears visibly inflated at its distal part and significantly longer (187 µm) than that observed in normal females (72–147 µm), probably due to fixation process, as the anterior one is comparable to that of normal females (140 and 43–180 µm, respectively). On the other hand, the uteri are apparently simple and tube-like (Fig. 1B,C) (vs complex, tripartite in normal females; Fig. 1F), and sperm cells, always abundant in normal females as the population is bisexual with both females and males nearly equally present, are not found within the genital tracts of the abnormal female. A somewhat similar anomaly was reported by Radivojević (2005) in
Morphometrics of
Character | ♀* | 11♀♀** |
---|---|---|
L | 1.80 | 1.81 ± 0.15 (1.56–2.07) |
a | 22.5 | 21.5 ± 1.8 (17.8–23.6) |
b | 3.9 | 3.8 ± 0.3 (3.3–4.3) |
c | 56.2 | 66.1 ± 8.5 (56.4–79.6) |
V | ? | 58.1 ± 0.9 (56.7–59.5) |
c’ | 0.7 | 0.6 ± 0.1 (0.5–0.8) |
Lip region diameter | 23 | 22.2 ± 1.0 (20–23) |
Odontostyle length | 26 | 25.1 ± 1.9 (22–28) |
Odontophore length | 42 | 40.8 ± 3.8 (33–44) |
Neck length | 466 | 472 ± 25 (417–514) |
Pharyngeal expansion length | 239 | 241 ± 20 (205–272) |
Body diam. at neck base | 75 | 79.2 ± 9.0 (65–98) |
Mid-body | 80 | 84.6 ± 8.1 (72–99) |
Anus/cloaca | 49 | 43.5 ± 2.9 (40–47) |
Distance vulva – anterior end | ? | 1054 ± 99 (889–1232) |
Prerectum length | 102 | 118 ± 24 (84–160) |
Rectum/cloaca length | 59 | 59.8 ± 5.0 (52–68) |
Tail length | 32 | 27.8 ± 4.0 (24–34) |
Vulvaless or