Gubernaculum (nematode anatomy)

File:Gongylonema pulchrum nematode from man Figure 2f.jpg, showing right spicule and gubernaculum]]File:Parasite140007-fig3 Philometra piscaria Moravec & Justine, 2014 (Nematoda, Philometridae).tif nematode - E and F represent the gubernaculum]]

In nematodes, the gubernaculum is a hardened or sclerotized structure in the wall that guides the protrusion of the spicule during copulation.{{cite book | last1=Bird | first1=Alan | last2=Bird | first2=Jean|title=The structure of nematodes | publisher=Academic Press | location=San Diego | year=1991 | isbn=0-12-099651-0 }} For example, in Caenorhabditis elegans, spicules serve to open and dilate the vagina of the hermaphrodite and the gubernaculum is a grooved plate in which the spicules move; the gubernaculum is controlled by two erector and two protractor muscles.

The shape and size of the gubernaculum are often important characters for the systematics of nematodes.{{cite book|last1=Chitwood|first1=Benjamin Goodwin|last2=Chitwood|first2=May Belle Hutson|year=1937|title=Introduction to Nematology (Vol. 1)|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.7355}} {{open access}}