Morphological and molecular characterisation of two species of Aporcella Andrassy, 2002 (Nematoda: Dorylaimida: Aporcelaimidae) from Iran, with new insights into the phylogeny of the genus

Two species, one new and another known, of Aporcella, isolated from the rhizosphere of fruit trees in East Azarbaijan, Iran, are described, including morphological data and D2-D3 rDNA LSU sequences. Aporcella malekimilanii sp. n. is characterised by its 1.9-2.7 mm long body, lateral chord bearing glandular bodies, lip region offset by weak constriction and 14-17 mu m broad, odontostyle 13-15 mu m long with aperture occupying 60% of its length, neck 476-619 mu m long, pharyngeal expansion occupying 58-63% of total neck length, uterus simple and 91-100 mu m long, V = 55-61, tail conical (44-56 mu m, c = 41-58, c' = 1.2-1.7) with finely rounded tip and a short terminal hyaline portion, and male unknown. New data are provided for A. vitrinus, whose Iranian material fits very well the known populations of the species. Molecular analyses reveal close evolutionary relationships of the two species with other representatives of the genus, supporting its monophyly, and confirm that they belong to a major clade with non-aporcelaimid taxa, the relationship with discolaims deserving further attention in the future.