Here is an interesting article: http://home.att.net/~oc_crfg/nematode.htm from California Rare Fruit Growers, Orange County

If you DO NOT have them RKN on your property,
the best (preventive) antidote is to LOOK at them  roots
(watch for any rosary-bead looks on the roots)
when you get/(gift-wrapped)/buy any fig from anybody (period!)...

I read about nematodes this summer (in relation to tomatoes issues) when I found that the blackish little centipede like worms that I used to see in the soil were not nematodes. Most nematodes are microscopic in size. However only some plant nematodes can be as big as 1cm but most plant nematodes are considerably smaller, usually measuring around 1 mm or less. 
I still can't relate it to anything that I see in the soil.