Description of a new and two known species of Cephaloboides Rahm, 1928 (Nematoda: Rhabditidae) from India, with discussion on the taxonomy of the genus.

A new species of Rhabditidae, collected from manure, is described and illustrated. Cephaloboides anisospiculus sp. n., an amphimictic species with a 1:1 sex ratio, is characterized by a small to medium-sized body (female: L = 0.5-0.7 mm, a = 13.6-20.0, b = 2.7-3.6, c = 15.4-22.7, c' = 1.0-1.8, V = 51.2-60.9), finely striated, punctated cuticle; slightly raised labial papillae; stoma with slightly anisomorphic metastegostom; presence of epiptygma; eggs measuring 37-42 x 20-24 µm; slightly protruded vulval lips with cuticular flaps; rectum 16-19 µm long; males with small, stout, slightly arcuate spicules with hood-like capitula and genital papillae in 1/2/(1+3)+2+P configuration; bursa leptoderan, greatly reduced and not enveloping the caudal spike. C. curvicaudatus (Schneider, 1866) Zullini, 1982 is also redescribed, with an emended diagnosis. The present population of C. curvicaudatus shows a few minor differences viz., relatively smaller 'b' value, presence of elongate capitula of spicules and strong copulatory muscle bands. Another species, C. parapapillosus (Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1951) comb. n. has been reinstated.

Description of a new species of Acrostichus Rahm 1928 (Nematoda: Diplogastridae) from India with a note on its position and relationship with the congeners.

BACKGROUND: The clade Diplogastridae Micoletzky 1922 largely represents the bacterivorous or predatory nematodes that very often demonstrate phoretic, necromenic or parasitic associations with insects (Sudhaus and Fürst von Lieven 2003). That is the reason, much of the diversity of the family remains undocumented because of their absence from routine soil samples. Due to their variable habitats and niches, these nematodes show ample variation in their stomal armature, feeding behavior and life cycle patterns. NEW INFORMATION: The paper describes and illustrates a new diplogastrid species of genus Acrostichus Rahm 1928 that appears to be the link between the genera Diplogastrellus Paramonov et al. 1952a and Acrostichus. Acrostichus medius n. sp. is characterised by hermaphroditic females and males having faintly striated longitudinal ridges, demarcated lateral fields, amalgamated lips, six adradial cheilostomal plates, moderately-built dorsal tooth, relatively smaller posterior genital branch; large oval uterine pouch and males with robust, heavily cuticularised spicules, each with hood-like capitulum, deeply forked distal end with fine extensions and a ventral attenuated arm; gubernaculum 2/3 of spicule length and rudiments of bursa confined to posterior four pairs of genital papillae. The biogeographical distribution of Acrostichus has been mapped and the relationship between congeners has been analysed cladistically and discussed.

A taxonomic review of the genus Goffartia Hirschmann, 1952 (Rhabditida: Diplogastridae) with a note on the relationship of congeners.

This paper deals with the descriptions and diagnoses of the species of the relatively rare and poorly-understood genus Goffartia Hirschmann, 1952. A comparative account of the salient morphological characters including stoma, amphids, pharynx, and the male accessory sex organs of the six species viz., G. africana (Micoletzky, 1915) Hirschmann, 1952; G. filicaudata (Andrássy, 1968) Sudhaus & Fürst von Lieven, 2003; G. heteroceri Hirschmann, 1952; G. praepilata Shoshin, 1989 and G. variabilis (Micoletzky, 1922) Hirschmann, 1952 and the recently described G. phalacra Singh, Yousuf, Kumar & Ahmad, 2014, has been given. This paper also discusses the variations among and the relationships between these congeners, and provides an identification key.

Description of a New and Two Known Species of the Free-living Nematode Paroigolaimella Paramonov, 1952 (Diplogastridae) from India.

This paper describes a new and two known species of Paroigolaimella collected from India. Paroigolaimella helalii n. sp. is characterized by having conspicuous sexual dimorphism in the stoma and pharynx, ovaries with a sphincter separating the mature oocyte from developing ones, a vagina leading to a strong ovijector, a pore-like vulva with cuticular flap; males with slender strongly arcuate spicules with dilated capitula; the gubernaculum slender with expanded plate-like distal end and nine pairs of genital papillae, and four to five pairs of copulatory muscle bands. P. coprophila (Sudhaus and Rehfeld, 1990) Sudhaus and Fürst von Lieven, 2003 collected from leaf litter from a farmyard has been redescribed with reassessment of its distinguishing characters from P. bernensis. P. bodamica (Micoletzky, 1922) n. comb. has been described and its status has been discussed with context to P. bernensis.

Descriptions of ten known species of the superfamily Mononchoidea (Mononchida: Nematoda) from North India with a detailed account on their variations.

Ten species of the superfamily Mononchoidea from fourteen populations collected during a survey of terrestrial and freshwater habitats of North India, are described and illustrated. The species include Clarkus papillatus (Bastian, 1865) Jairajpuri, 1970, Prionchulus muscorum (Dujardin, 1845) Wu & Hoeppli, 1929, Mylonchulus contractus Jairajpuri, 1970, M. hawaiiensis (Cassidy, 1931) Andrassy, 1958, M. lacustris (Cobb in Cobb, 1915) Andrdssy, 1958, M. minor (Cobb, 1893) Andrassy, 1958, M. obtusicaudatus (Daday, 1899) AndrAssy, 1958, M. vasis Yeates, 1992, Sporonchulus ibitiensis (Carvalho, 1951) Andrassy, 1958 and S. vagabundus Jairajpuri, 1971. Mylonchulus vasis Yeates, 1992 is reported for the first time from India. The variable, as well as the relatively consistent characters are discussed in different populations to assess their role in the diagnosis of species.