Ciliate Hitch-hikers—Nematode ecto-commensals from tropical Australian sea grass meadows

Abstract

The presence of suctorian ciliates attached to the cuticle of heavily ornamented free-living marine nematodes, especially the family Desmodoridae, has been reported. Observations of nematode hosts and their attached ciliates were made from samples extracted from very fine muddy sands of tropical Australian sea grass meadows. Measurements of the point of attachment of the ciliates revealed that they tend to position themselves near the anus/cloaca of the nematode host.