A contribution to the nematode fauna of two agamid lizards from Afghanistan

Summary Information on the recent herpetological and related parasitological collections are very rarely available for Afghanistan. We examined two species of the family Agamidae, Laudakia nuristanica and Paralaudakia caucasia for the presence of the intestinal helminth fauna. Overall, we examined 13 specimens of these lizards and found three species of helminths (Abbreviata achari, Thelandros masaae, T. taylori) in a single specimen of L. nuristanica and four species (A. achari, T. baylisi, T. taylori, P. kasauli) in three specimens of P. caucasia. Here in, we present the first report on the helminth fauna from L. nuristanica, record a new helminth host for P. caucasia and three new country records for the helminth fauna of Afghanistan.

Three species of Xiphinema americanum-group complex (Nematoda: Longidoridae), from Lorestan province, Iran

SummaryThe dagger nematodes of the longidorids can cause diseases of various agronomic and horticultural crops, and are consisted of more than 260 valid species. In a forest survey of ecotypes of longidorid nematodes, from the root zone soil of Brant’s oak, (Quercus brantii Lindl.) and hawthorn (Crataegus aronia L.) trees, three species of Xiphinema americanum group namely Xiphinema pachtaicum, X. oxycaudatum and X. plesiopachtaicum were collected and studied based on their morphological and morphometric characters. X. pachtaicum is prevalent Xiphinema species in Iran. In this paper additional data for X. oxycaudatum and X. plesiopachtaicum species are presented. X. plesiopachtaicum is a new record for nematode fauna of Iran.

New records of the genus Miconchus (Mononchida, Anatonchidae) for Vietnam nematode fauna

Two species of the genus Miconchus, viz. M. dahousiensis and M. baeticus, were recorded for the first time in Vietnam. The two collected species from Tuyen Quang, Ha Giang and Bac Can Provinces were redescribed and illustrated.

Distribution of Root-Lesion and Stunt Nematodes, and Their Relationship with Soil Properties and Nematode Fauna in Sugarcane Fields in Okinawa, Japan

Sugarcane cultivation in Japan has not yet focused on suppressing plant-parasitic nematodes. For proper nematode management, it is essential to know the spatial distribution of economically important plant-parasitic nematodes and free-living nematodes that play important roles in terrestrial ecosystems. We aimed to reveal nematode fauna and soil properties in 85 sugarcane fields of three major sugarcane producing islands in Japan, and to examine their relationship by using the mixed-effect model and by visualizing the spatial distributions using the inverse distance weighting (IDW) approach. The nematode community structures were analyzed by non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). Among plant-parasitic nematodes in sugarcane, the root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus sp.) and the stunt nematodes (Tylenchorhynchus sp.) were widely distributed in these islands, yet the abundance and the species varied geospatially. Soil pH was significantly correlated with the abundance of Pratylenchus and Tylenchorhynchus species. The abundance of Pratylenchus and Tylenchorhynchus species were significantly correlated with soil pH. The abundance of Pratylenchus was significantly correlated with the abundance of free-living nematodes, the number of free-living nematode species, and exchangeable cation K+, as were the abundance of Tylenchorhynchus to the clay content and that of non-Tylenchorhynchus. This study also revealed that the three islands had different nematode faunas, which were explained especially by soil pH, texture, and exchangeable basic cations.

A new species of Cosmocerca (Nematoda, Ascaridomorpha) from the marine toad Rhinella marina (Linnaeus) (Anura, Bufonidae) in Australia

The marine toad Rhinella marina (Linnaeus) (Anura, Bufonidae) is a notorious, exotic amphibian species in Australia. However, our present knowledge of the composition of the nematode fauna of R. marina is still not complete. In the present study, a new cosmocercid nematode, Cosmocerca multipapillatasp. nov., was described using both light and scanning electron microscopy, based on specimens collected from R. marina in Australia. Cosmocerca multipapillatasp. nov. can be easily distinguished from its congeners by the body size, the presence of lateral alae and well sclerotized gubernaculum, the number and arrangement of plectanes and rosettes and the length of spicules, oesophagus and tail.