Family SEINURIDAE Husain & Khan, 1967 (Baranovskaya, 1981)

Papuaphelenchus sp.

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Family SEINURIDAE Husain & Khan, 1967 (Baranovskaya, 1981)

Seinuridae Husain, S.I. & Khan, A.M. 1967. On the status of the genera of the superfamily Aphelenchoidea (Fuchs, 1937) Thorne, 1949, with descriptions of six new species from India. Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington 34: 167-174.

Introduction

A family of moderate diversity, characterised by long stylets with a lumen that is wide relative to most Aphelenchida, exceptionally prominent median bulb with the valve plates located in the posterior half, vermiform females with functional anus and rectum and elongate tails, and males without any bursa. Males and females are the only adult forms.

Four genera and 47 species in two subfamilies are recognised, the vast majority in the type genus. Two of the other genera are monotypic, and the other has two species. Six species from three of the genera have been found in Australia.

This family is thought to be entirely predaceous. This is based on direct observations of several species of Seinura (Linford 1937, Linford & Oliviera 1937, Hechler 1963, Wood 1975). These species were observed to feed on plant-parasitic, fungal-feeding and bacterial-feeding nematodes, with highest success rates on slow-moving and thin-cuticled nematodes. Apon encountering potential prey, including conspecifics, there is rapid stylet thrusting. If successful in pentrating the cuticle, an oesophageal gland secretion is injected which immobilizes the prey. (The assumption that morphologically similar species are similar in feeding habits is common in nematology, despite many exceptions.)

One species has a life cycle of around 5 days at 20° C. One or two moults may occur within the egg and one moult deleted from the life cycle. Reproduction may be amphimictic or parthenogenetic.

No members of the family are of known economic importance, although there have been suggestions that the group may be useful in biological control of undesirable nematodes (Wood 1975).