Aphelenchoides salixae n. sp (Nematoda: Aphelenchoididae) isolated from Salix alba in western Iran

Aphelenchoides salixae n. sp. was isolated from wood and bark samples of a dead willow in Kermanshah Province, western Iran. The nematodes were collected directly from wood samples and were successfully reared on Botrytis cinerea. The new species has a body length of 567 (507-620) mu m (females) and 382 or 400 mu m (males). The cuticle is weakly annulated with four lateral lines. Lip region offset. The stylet is 9.5 (9-10) mu m long with small basal swellings. The excretory pore is located ca one body diam. posterior to the metacorpus valve. The spicules are short with the dorsal limb 14 or 15 mu m long (n = 2), apex and rostrum rounded and only slight offset. The female tail is cylindrical with a broadly rounded terminus. The male tail is conical, bearing six (2 + 2 + 2) caudal papillae with a hamate mucron at terminus. The new species belongs to the Group 1 category of Aphelenchoides species and is close to seven known species, namely: A. capsuloplanus, A. confusus, A. limberi, A. obtusicaudatus, A. obtusus, A. orientalis and A. rotundicaudatus. Molecular analyses of the partial 18S, D2-D3 expansion segments of the 28S rRNA genes and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) supported it as a new species and that the new species is closest to A. besseyi, A. fujianensis and A. ritzemabosi in dendrograms inferred using 18S and 28S D2-D3 genes.