Nutritional Relationships among Certain Filamentous Fungi and a Marine Nematode.

A marine form of nematode, Aphelenchoides sp., can develop and reproduce effectively on viable mycelia of various filamentous fungi including certain widespread marine species. The efficiency of utilization of fungal mycelium by the animal, based on the ratio of the number of nematodes to the dry weight of fungal mycelium, varies greatly among fungi, from less than 100 to as much as 5000 for several of the marine species studied.