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WHAT ARE NEMATODES?

Nematodes are a type of microscopic worm, and there are more than 25,000 known species of them.

 Thousands of individual nematodes can be found in a handful of garden soil.

Some species can contain more than 27 million eggs at one time and lay more than 200,000 of them in a single day. 

Their body is long and narrow, resembling a tiny thread - and this is the origin of the group's name. 

The word 'nematode' comes from a Greek word 'nema' that means 'thread'.

The epidermis (skin) of a nematode is not composed of cells like other animals, but instead is a mass of cellular material and nuclei without separate membranes. 

This epidermis secretes a thick outer cuticle which is both tough and flexible.  

The cuticle is the closest thing a nematode has to a skeleton, and its used as a support and leverage point for movement.

Long muscles lie underneath the cuticle. These muscles are all aligned longitudinally along the inside of the body, so the nematode can only bend its body from side to side, not crawl or lift itself, so free-swimming nematode looks like it's thrashing about aimlessly.

Source:  University of California Museum of Paleontology 

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