It's Spooky Season

Metasphaerolaimus picture provided by Dr. Jeroen Ingels @jeroeningels

Spooky season is arguably the best time of year, and I thought it would be appropriate to talk about the spooky side of nematodes in today's blog post. Nematodes, you may not know, have different feeding strategies, and are currently grouped into: (1A) microvores, (1B) ciliate and deposit feeders, (2A) epigrowth feeders, and (2B) predators. These groupings are based on the nematodes' mouth structures and the presence or absence of teeth. Yes, teeth. Nematodes that are facultative predators have small teeth, while true predators have larger teeth, that resemble fangs in pictures (see left). For those that are interested, look up pictures of the genus Enoplida--their mouth structures look like sand worms out of tremors. While some nematodes have mouth parts that allow for scraping material off of hard substrates, others have more simplified mouth parts for sucking up bacteria. There are also parasitic nematodes, though I do not study these in the lab. In the ocean, these nematodes are parasites of fish, and on land, parasitic nematodes infect plants and insects. Note: tapeworms are not nematodes, though parasitic nematodes perform similar functions as tapeworms.

I am interested in assessing how microplastics enter benthic (seafloor) food webs, and current research shows that nematodes ingest microplastics that are smaller than their buccal (mouth) cavities. However, is there a relationship between the nematode's feeding type and mouth structure and its ingestion of microplastics? Nematodes that are predators are likely consuming other nematodes or larger prey items and may avoid microplastics that are not prey-like, but microvores or deposit feeders may incidentally ingest microplastics when feeding. I am hoping to answer this question in part two of my research to understand if there are differential rates of ingestion or if microplastics are more likely to affect one group of nematodes versus another.

Although I am not yet ready for the second part of my research, I am excited to continue learning about how microplastics are affecting nematodes, given the scarcity of research connecting microplastics pollution and marine nematodes (there's plenty on terrestrial). Next week's blog will be a very special one, so stay tuned for the surprise blog!

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