New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts
Crustorhabditis chitwoodi sp. nov. (Nematoda: Rhabditidae): an
intertidal species from the coast of New South Wales, Australia, with observations
on its ecology and life history
Warwick L. Nicholas
Division of Botany and Zoology
Australian National University
Canberra
ACT 0200, Australia
email: warwick@webone.com.au
Abstract A new species, Crustorhabditis chitwoodi,
was discovered in nutrient agar plates inoculated with beach sand collected
from an ocean beach in New South Wales, Australia. The three other known
species of the genus have all been found as commensal inhabitants of ocypodid
shore crabs. It is suggested that the sand inoculum was seeded with dauer
larvae of the nematode that had been dispersed by scavenging crabs. The new
species is distinguished from the three previously described species by possessing
a smaller number of differently arranged bursal papillae, eight rather than
10. The species is amphimictic, oviparous, and produces abundant dauer larvae
in culture, which can be sustained indefinitely on sea water nutrient agar
in which it feeds on associated bacteria.
Keywords Crustorhabditis; Brachyura; intertidal
beach; marine; nematode
M04115; Online publication date 24 November 2004 Received 1 June 2004;
accepted 9 September 2004
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2004, Vol. 38:
803–808
0028–8330/04/3805–0803 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2004
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