Aphelenchoides iranicus n. sp. (Nematoda: Aphelenchoididae) from West Azerbaijan province, Iran

Aphelenchoides iranicus n. sp. is described and illustrated from bark samples of an oak tree (Quercus sp.) in West Azerbaijan province, north-western Iran. The new species is characterised by body length of 350 (330-383) μm in females and 343 (323-370) μm in males, lip region set off from body contour, lateral fields with three lines, stylet 8 (7-9) μm long with small basal swellings, excretory pore 59 (56-62) μm from anterior end, hemizonid invisible, pharyngeal glands overlapping intestine dorsally and extending for 48 (41-54) μm, female tail subcylindrical with many tiny finger-like appendages at the tip, and male with aphelenchoid type spicules 17.6 (17-18) μm long. The new species comes close to nine known species of the genus namely: A. brevicaudatus, A. cibolensis, A. conimucronatus, A. editocaputis, A. montanus, A. pusillus, A. rarus, A. sphaerocephalus and A. vaughani, but differs from them by the number of incisures in the lateral field, shape of tail mucron, stylet length, size of spicules and length of post-vulval uterine sac. Additionally, this species is characterised molecularly and phylogenetically by sequences of the D2-D3 expansion segments of the 28S and partial 18S rRNA genes that are unique in relation to the sequences deposited in GenBank.This study was financially supported by the University of Tehran. The Spanish authors thank C. Cantalapiedra-Navarrete (IAS-CSIC) for her excellent technical assistance, and grant AGR-136 from ‘Consejería de Economía, Innvovación y Ciencia’ from Junta de Andalucía, and Unión Europea, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo regional, ‘Una manera de hacer Europa’.Peer reviewe

Aphelenchoides iranicus n. sp. (Nematoda: Aphelenchoididae) from West Azerbaijan province, Iran

Aphelenchoides iranicus n. sp. is described and illustrated from bark samples of an oak tree (Quercus sp.) in West Azerbaijan province, north-western Iran. The new species is characterised by body length of 350 (330-383) μm in females and 343 (323-370) μm in males, lip region set off from body contour, lateral fields with three lines, stylet 8 (7-9) μm long with small basal swellings, excretory pore 59 (56-62) μm from anterior end, hemizonid invisible, pharyngeal glands overlapping intestine dorsally and extending for 48 (41-54) μm, female tail subcylindrical with many tiny finger-like appendages at the tip, and male with aphelenchoid type spicules 17.6 (17-18) μm long. The new species comes close to nine known species of the genus namely: A. brevicaudatus, A. cibolensis, A. conimucronatus, A. editocaputis, A. montanus, A. pusillus, A. rarus, A. sphaerocephalus and A. vaughani, but differs from them by the number of incisures in the lateral field, shape of tail mucron, stylet length, size of spicules and length of post-vulval uterine sac. Additionally, this species is characterised molecularly and phylogenetically by sequences of the D2-D3 expansion segments of the 28S and partial 18S rRNA genes that are unique in relation to the sequences deposited in GenBank.This study was financially supported by the University of Tehran. The Spanish authors thank C. Cantalapiedra-Navarrete (IAS-CSIC) for her excellent technical assistance, and grant AGR-136 from ‘Consejería de Economía, Innvovación y Ciencia’ from Junta de Andalucía, and Unión Europea, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo regional, ‘Una manera de hacer Europa’.Peer reviewe