Description of a new species of Aspidonema (Sachs, 1949) Andrássy, 1958 (Nematoda: Bunonematidae) associated with mint leaf beetle Chrysolina herbacea (Duftschmid, 1825) from India

This paper provides a detailed description of a new species of genus Aspidonema isolated from mint leaf beetles (Chrysolina herbacea), and is the first report of a bunonematid nematode from beetles in India. Aspidonema kashmirensis sp. nov. is characterised by females having small, asymmetrical body (L = 224–337µm, a = 13.1–20.3, b = 3.2–4.2, c = 7.2–10.7, c′ = 4.0–5.7, V = 53.3–60.0), with the right side body cuticle ornamented with shields, warts and networks while the left side is provided with five longitudinal ridges. The shields are transversely-ovoid, having strongly sclerotized borders and a pair of elliptical slits for the underlying warts. Fine pores observed under SEM are present on the surface of the shields. Males have a bifid tail; long, thin, free spicules, distally hooked gubernaculum; asymmetrical, leptoderan bursa and eight pairs of genital papillae.

First Record of Dicheilonema Ciconiae (Nematoda, Diplotriaenoidea) From Ciconia Nigra (Aves, Ciconiidae) in Ukraine

Five specimens of a parasitic nematode Dicheilonema ciconiae (Schrank, 1788) were collected from black stork, Ciconia nigra Linnaeus, in Kyiv Zoological Park. Identification of the nematodes was confirmed by morphological examination of the specimens collected. The ornamentation of the body cuticle in caudal region of males (area rugosa) is first described in D. ciconiae.

Description of Distolabrellus magnivulvatus sp. n. (Nematoda, Rhabditida, Mesorhabditidae) from Iberian peninsula, the second species of a rare genus

Distolabrellus magnivulvatus sp. n., collected from green-house soil in central Iberian peninsula, is described and illustrated. It is characterized by having 0.89–1.07 mm long body in females and 0.65–0.99 mm in males, cuticle tesselated, lateral fields with three longitudinal incisures, lip region almost continuous and 10–13 µm wide, lips dimorphic (alternately extremely reduced and ovoid), stoma 22–30 μm long or 2.0–2.8 times lip region diameter, pharyngeal collar shorter than half of total stoma length, distance to pharyngo-intestinal junction 148–190 µm, V = 82–86, vulva a transverse slit located in a vulval cone and with its anterior lip bearing a flap-like structure, body cuticle surrounding the vulva especially differentiated, female tail conical with acute tip (68–90 μm, c = 10.9–14.6, c’ = 2.1–4.5), male tail conical (23–32 μm, c = 24.8–34.0; c’ = 1.0–1.4), bursa peloderan and open anteriorly, genital papillae ten pairs (2+1/4+3), spicules 54–64 μ m long and fused two-thirds, and gubernaculum 32–41 μm long. The new taxon is the second species of the genus Distolabrellus and is compared to type species D. veechi.

Guitartia tridentata n. gen., n. sp. (Monhysterida: Xyalidae) and Macrodontium gaspari n. gen., n. sp. (Chromadorida: Microlaimidae), free-living marine nematodes from the Caribbean Sea

Two new genera of free-living marine nematodes are described from the muddy bottom of Cienfuegos Bay, Caribbean Sea. Guitartia n. gen. (Xyalidae, Monhysterida) is characterised by three long tooth-like structures in the stegostom, second and third circle of anterior sensilla separate and posterior genital branch of the female restricted to a long post-vulvar sac. The type species is Guitartia tridentata n. gen., n. sp. Within the Xyalidae, Guitartia n. gen. is morphologically close to Amphimonhystrella, Cobbia, Elzalia, Scaptrella and Valvaelaimus, all being characterised by sclerotised structures in the stoma and transverse striation of the body cuticle. Main features for discrimination are the type of stoma structure, the shape and relative size of amphidial fovea, the presence of a post-vulvar sac and gubernacular apophyses and the absence of terminal setae on the tail. Macrodontium n. gen. (Microlaimidae, Chromadorida) is characterised by a heavily sclerotised stoma with one large dorsal tooth and two smaller subventral teeth, sexual dimorphism in size and position of the amphidial fovea and males with a single anterior testis. The type species is Macrodontium gaspari n. gen., n. sp. Within the Microlaimidae, Macrodontium n. gen. is similar to the genera Acanthomicrolaimus and Bolbolaimus due to sclerotised stoma and presence of large dorsal tooth. The new genus is similar to Aponema in sexual dimorphism in the size of the amphidial fovea, monorchic males, presence of a gubernacular apophysis and conico-cylindrical tail shape. Morphological characters of diagnostic value within the family are the ornamentation of the body cuticle, relative length of cephalic sensilla, stoma sclerotisation and number of testes.

Paratylenchus paraperaticus sp. n. (Tylenchida: Tylenchulidae) found in the rhizosphere of walnut trees in Hamadan province, Iran

During a survey of plant-parasitic nematodes associated with walnut trees in Hamadan province, west Iran, several species of Longidoridae and infraorder Tylenchomorpha, including Paratylenchus paraperaticus sp. n., were identified. Paratylenchus paraperaticus sp. n. is characterised by its small size (255-385 μm), young female vermiform and ventrally curved, older female obese, swollen in prevulvar region and J- or W-shaped; truncate conical head with distinct and laterally protruding submedian lobes; long and flexible stylet (75.0-96.5 μm); body cuticle with fine and smooth annuli in young females, but in older females ornamented with minute reflective tubercles or irregularities that are confined mostly to the neck region; lateral field with four lines; presence of lateral vulval flaps; rounded to ovoid spermatheca filled with small, rounded sperm; and conical and ventrally curved tail with pointed to finely rounded terminus.

Bernardius lineatus gen. n., sp. n. (Enoplida: Enchelidiidae), a remarkable nematode with ornamented cuticle from a Brazilian tropical sandy beach

Bernardius lineatus gen. n., sp. n. is described from a sandy beach at Tamandaré Bay, Brazil. It possesses the main characteristics of the family Enchelidiidae (Nematoda: Enoplida), but is unique by the presence of a body cuticle ornamented with longitudinal ridges formed by small rods, an entirely different character to all other members of the order Enoplida. The new genus is also characterised by a long, subdivided, buccal cavity with two subventral teeth and numerous denticles and the arrangement of the anterior sensilla in two crowns, the anterior crown being papilliform and the posterior crown consisting of six external labial and four cephalic sensilla, setiform. The relationships of the genera within the Enchelidiidae are discussed and an emended family diagnosis provided.