I am trying to get a grasp on nematode body length and its relationship with aspect ratio (maximum width / body length) for a wide range of lifestyles (parasitic to free-living) and environments (marine, freshwater, terrestrial). Are there any good compendia or sources which list such measurements for a wide range of taxa ? Such measurements seem to be often scattered in the literature and large quantitative studies usually only reported pooled data and do not list individual measurements. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Dear Kenneth,
I think the book "Nematode Parasites of Vertebrates: Their Development and Transmission" (CABI Publishing, 2000) by Roy C. Anderson can be very useful.
Hope it helps.
Best regards.
http://books.google.pt/books?id=lEERbfsvP1EC&printsec=frontcover&hl=pt-PT&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
If you want to get row data, I think, the best way is to check species descriptions. Normally, the species description (at least, the modern one) contents data on body length and max diameter of each individual
Dear Dr Baets,
Unfortunately free living and parasitic nematodes are studied separately, so there is no a single compendium with morphometric data. There are several very good checklists, most performed by geographic area. For a sample of nematodes parasites of Brazil (including measures of several species), please see the links below.
Good luck in your study.
Best regards
Hudson
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0101-81751993000100003&script=sci_arttext
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-81751995000500001
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbzool/v16n3/v16n3a01.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0101-81751997000500001&script=sci_arttext
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0101-81751990000400015&script=sci_arttext
Thanks, I figured as much as this is what i am currently doing. There are however some authors who have compiled this more generally, for at least a fairly large sampel of free-living and parasitic forms:
YEATES, G. & BOAG, B. 2006. Female size shows similar trends in all clades of the phylum Nematoda. Nematology, 8, 111-127.
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/156854106776179881
follow deMan's ratio which is universally accepted. detailed account can be found in book: Laboratory methods for work with plant and soil nematodes (1986), eds. J. F. Southey, (London; Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food)
This might be relevant for people interested in body size of nematodes with different lifestyles:
Kirchner, T. B., Anderson, R. V., and Ingham, R. E., 1980, Natural Selection and the Distribution of Nematode Sizes: Ecology, v. 61, no. 2, p. 232-237.
Klasse Nematoda by Andrassy. Every species he had included in the book is with the morphometric values.
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