State of the art of the free-living marine Monhysteridae (Nematoda)

Abstract

The family Monhysteridae is characterized by 17 valid genera, seven of which are known to be free-living, inhabiting marine sediments. In total, 70 valid marine species are ascribed to these seven genera. Overall, the family is characterized by a confused taxonomic history with a large list of synonyms and species inquirendae. The taxonomic problem is not restricted to the old literature, but inconsistencies also appeared in recent studies. The aim of this study is to show the most important diagnostic characters to identify each genus and provide taxonomic tools for species identification. Dichotomous-keys and illustration-guides are attempted for the marine monhysterid species. For the family and each subfamily, tribe and marine genus a brief historical background, diagnosis and a list of valid species is provided. Hereby, we propose to transfer eight species of the genus Thalassomonhystera to the genus Monhystrella.