SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY AND INTRASPECIFIC VARIATION IN EUCHORDODES NIGROMACULATUS FROM NEW-ZEALAND

Taxonomic characters of the male posterior end and the body cuticle of Euchordodes nigromaculatus (Nematomorpha) were described by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and compared with the original description b y Poinar (1991a) and with other Euchordodes species. Intraspecific var iation was found in the body length, the distance between the cloacal opening and the posterior end and especially in the form of the male p osterior end. The latter either possesses two short lobelike structure s and a ventral groove or lacks these structures. The importance of SE M investigations and observations of intraspecific variation is stress ed for the taxonomy of nematomorph species.