Mylonchulus

To study the structure of a nematode, different types of microscopes are available. The most simple microscope is the light microscope which allows observing nematodes in a drop of water. An advantage of this microscope type is that also inner structures can be observed, a disadvantage is that the maximal magnification is around 1000x and, moreover, that some structures do not show enough contrast to be observed.

An alternative is the scanning electron microscope (SEM) which allows the study of surface structures at a much higher magnification. Although nematodes for the SEM have to be dehydrated and mounted in advance, SEM-studies offer interesting additional information as for example the structure of the papillae around the mouth cavity of Mylonchulus and the cuticle structure; with the light microscope thesestructures are almost invisible.