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Thirteen species of Pratylenchidae: Pratylenchus cojfeae, P. delattrei, P. loosi, P. neglectus, P. penetrans, P. pseudopratensis, P. thornei, P. vulnus, Pratylenchus sp., Pratylenchoides alkani, P. ritten, Hirschmanniella sp. and Zygotylenchus guevarai were collected from different crops and plants throughout Iran. The specimens were identified using morphological and molecular methods. Morphometries and morphology are given for Pratylenchus sp., P. delattrei, Pratylenchoides alkani and Hirschmanniella sp. The D2-D3 expansion segments of the 28S rRNA gene were amplified and sequenced for all 13 species studied. Diagnostic PCR-ITS-RFLP profiles are given for Pratylenchus delattrei, P. penetrans, P. pseudopratensis, Pratylenchus sp., Pratylenchoides alkani and P. ritteri. Pratylenchus neglectus and P. thornei, collected from cereal fields, P. loosi from tea plantations, P. cojfeae from banana, P. penetrans from ornamental plants, P. vulnus from pines and Z. guevarai from almonds showed a high level of similarity in the D2-D3 sequences with corresponding GenBank sequences. Nucleotide differences between Iranian populations and reference species were in the intraspecific range. Pratylenchus delattrei, found in vegetable fields, and Pratylenchus sp. from palm rhizosphere, formed a highly supported clade with P. zeae, the two former species being morphologically very close to the latter except in tail shape. Pratylenchus pseudopratensis, from cereal fields, clustered with P. vulnus with low support. Phylogenetic relationships within Pratylenchus species were mainly congruent with those obtained in previous studies. Despite the morphological similarities between P. ritteri and P. alkani, the D2-D3 of 28S rRNA gene sequences differed by 5 bp. Hirschmanniella sp., from a rice field, formed a clade with H. loofi and H. kwazuna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]