Eisendle, U. (2008). Description of Mononchus sandur n. sp. (Nematoda: Mononchidae) and remarks on M. truncatus Bastian, 1865 and M. aquaticus Coetzee, 1968 from a glacial floodplain reach (Großglockner region, Hohe Tauern, Austria). Nematology. 10(6): 809-818.
Description of Mononchus sandur n. sp. (Nematoda: Mononchidae) and remarks on M. truncatus Bastian, 1865 and M. aquaticus Coetzee, 1968 from a glacial floodplain reach (Großglockner region, Hohe Tauern, Austria)
Females and males of a new species of the genus Mononchus were found in an alpine, glacial floodplain reach (2073 m a.s.l.) in the Großglockner region (Hohe Tauern National Park; Austria). Females of Mononchus sandur n. sp. are medium sized (1.5-1.8 mm) with body diam. of 45-65 μm. The buccal cavity is 28-35 × 13-15 μm in size with the dorsal tooth located 65-77% from the buccal cavity base. The distinct amphid openings (4 μm) are located 11 μm posterior to the head and anterior to the dorsal tooth apex. The general appearance of the female is characterised by the shape of the tail with its combination of length and slenderness (224-306 μm; c? = 7.2-10.8). Males of M. sandur n. sp. are very similar to females with the exception of a shorter tail (147-159 μm). Males have 16 and 18 preanal supplements, 57-68 μm long spicula and 11-14 μm long gubernaculum. Morphometric measurements and ratios were determined for 20 females of M. sandur n. sp., M. truncatus and M. aquaticus, all co-occurring in the floodplain reach. One-way
analysis of variance revealed that M. aquaticus, M. truncatus and M. sandur n. sp. differ significantly in 18 out of 20 morphometric traits. A cluster analysis of ten morphometric traits was done to allocate and separate the measurements of the 60 females. Three distinctly separate clusters arose. By calculating the Kappa coefficient (K), it could be shown that the partitioning of individuals in these three clusters was in complete accordance with the species determination (K = 1;P <0.0001).