DIETARY COMPONENTS AFFECTING MORPHOMETRICS OF TERATORHABDITIS ANDRASSYI (NEMATODA: RHABDITIDA)

Abstract

Teratorhabditis andrassyi was reared on plain agar and on agar separately supplemented with maltose, vitamin E and cholesterol. The morphometrics of the nematodes from the four cultures were compared with those obtained from soil. Lip height and width, stoma length, corpus length, nerve ring position and basal bulb length remained more or less constant. However, significant variations in gonad length and width and the allometric ration 'a' were observed in the nematodes reared on supplemented media.