Description of Basilaphelenchus pedrami n. sp. (Tylenchomorpha: Aphelenchoididae) isolated from Kyoto, Japan

Abstract

Summary An undescribed Basilaphelenchus species was isolated from the dead and decaying wood of an unidentified broad-leaved tree in Kyoto, Japan. The species was cultured on a lawn of Botrytis cinerea after many attempts and kept as a laboratory strain. The nematode is characterised by the position of its secretory-excretory pore, which differs between males (anterior to median bulb) and females (overlapping or posterior to median bulb), the tail morphology of males (conical with very short mucron) and females (smoothly tapering conical with various shapes at terminus) and male spicule morphology, with spicules possessing a smoothly curved blade (calomus-lamina complex) and a shallow capitulum depression. In addition, the new species is differentiated from other members of the genus by the molecular sequences of its ribosomal RNA region. Phylogenetically, the new species is close to two Iranian species, B. brevicaudatus and B. gorganensis, but can be distinguished from them based upon its separated phylogenetic status. The genus contains five species that were described from Chile and Iran. Thus, the isolation of a species from this genus in Kyoto, Japan, represents the first record of the genus from East Asia. The new species is described and illustrated herein as B. pedrami n. sp.