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Enchodelus analatus  
Enchodelus analatus (Ditlevsen, 1927) Thorne,
1939
This week's featured nematode was recovered from samples taken in the Haughton Crater impact site (also known as "Mars on Earth"; go to http://home.marssociety.org/arctic/ for more information) located near the Magnetic North Pole in Nunavut, Canada. While most of the Haughton Crater "soil" consists of powdery grey impact breccia, there are numerous small "micro-oases" (about 40 m2), often associated with lemming burrows, where mosses, lichens, and some vascular plants are able to grow, and even thrive. It is in these sites that we find surprisingly large numbers of many different forms of nematodes (in addition to Enchodelus, we find several species of Eudorylaimus, Plectus, Mesodorylaimus, Labronema, Filenchus, and Thonus, along with some Tylenchus, Aprutides, Amphidelus, and Thorneella). Enchodelus analatus probably feeds on mosses and/or lichens. Both males and females are present in our samples, and in some respects measurements differ from those originally reported by Thorne (as transcribed from Ditlevsen). Because of this, and because we haven’t been able to compare our specimens directly with type material or to compare DNA sequence information with other collections of E. analatus, the species identification remains unconfirmed. This is indicated in the photos and elsewhere by the "?" appearing just before the species name. Peter Mullin Description (from Thorne, G. 1939. A monograph of the nematodes of the superfamily Dorylaimoidea. Capita Zool. 8: 1-261): Female: 1.8 mm; a = 24.4; b = 5.0; c = 55; V = 50.9
Body tapering rapidly anteriorly. Lip region truncate, lips indistinct,
papillae tiny. Spear proper three-fourths as long as its extensions,
which lack definite flanges. Esophagus at first very narrow, then
expanding rather suddenly back of nerve ring. Intestine at first
about twice width of esophagus. Prerectum length only about equal
to body diameter. Ovaries symmetrical.
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