Genus Rhabdolaimus
de Man, 1880
Definition: Rhabdolaiminae. Cuticle with fine transverse striae.
Lateral fields absent. Amphids small and rather inconspicuous.
Head flatly rounded, very lightly offset, without lips, papillae or setae.
Stoma simple, furnished with 3 minute denticles in the anterior part and
followed by a long, tapering tube lined by 3 rod-like thickenings and surrounded
by a forward extension of the oesophagus. Latter almost cylindrical
but narrowing to a short isthmus and swelling out into a terminal,
pyriform, muscular bulb containing a valve apparatus. Tail in both
sexes long and tapering, ending in a long terminal duct through which the
caudal glands open. Vulva nearly equatorial, gonads paired
and opposed. Spicules stout and rather broad anteriorly. Gubenaculum
absent or represented by 2 local thickenings in the floor of the cloaca.
No papillae in caudal region of either sex. Males are rare.
Type species: Rhabdolaimus
terrestris de Man, 1880
Species found: at:
Other species:
R. aquaticus de Man, 1880
R. baltonicus Daday, 1894
R. brachuris Meyl, 1954
R. minor Cobb, 1914
Bionomics: Found in damp soil and sand, and in fresh water,
feeding habits unknown.