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Malenchus gilanensis n. sp. is described and illustrated from wood samples from Iran. Morphologically, this new species is characterized by very small body size, cuticle with narrow annuli (0.8-0.9 μm wide at mid-body), lateral field with two lines, originating at the level of the median pharyngeal bulb valve, straight amphidial apertures (similar to members of the subgenus Telomalenchus), sunken vulva with large lateral flaps, prophasmids located almost level with to 9 annuli posterior to the vulva in females, and undeveloped adanal bursa which can be considered as an outgrowth of the lateral field in males. Malenchus gilanensis n. sp. resembles members of subgenus Telomalenchus due to the straight amphidial apertures, prophasmid position and large lateral flaps, but it differs by having two lines in the lateral fields. This new species is morphologically similar to five known species of the subgenus Malenchus: M. acarayensis, M. bryanti, M. parvus, M. nanellus and M. truncatus. The new species can be distinguished from them and other species in the subgenus by having straight amphidial apertures, two lines in the lateral fields, position of prophasmids, and having a very small and undeveloped bursa.

A new species of the genus Tylencholaimus, collected in natural areas of Iran, is described and illustrated, including SEM observations. Tylencholaimus discus sp. n. is characterized by its 0.65-0.76 mm long body, lip region offset by weak constriction and 7-7.5 µm broad with a conspicuous perioral disc, odontostyle 6-7 µm long, odontophore 9-10.5 µm long and visibly flanged rather than knobbed, neck 230-259 µm long with anterior region weakly muscular and basal expansion 98-125 µm long or occupying 42-49% of total neck length, female genital system mono-prodelphic, posterior branch reduced to a uterine sac 2-20 µm long or much shorter (0.1-0.6 times) than body diameter but very occasionally consisting of uterus, sphincter and a small terminal mass all together measuring 35-40 µm long, V = 65-74, tail short and rounded (13-17 µm, c = 41-57, c' = 0.6-0.8), and male unknown.

Ditylenchus sturhani sp. n. from the rhizosphere of grasses in East Azarbaijan province, Northwestern Iran, is described and illustrated. The new species is characterised by a straight to slightly arcuate body 656-865 µm in length, presence of four incisures in each lateral field, slender stylet 10-12 µm in length, pharyngeal basal bulb offset or slightly overlapping the intestine, post-uterine sac 1.0-1.9 vulval body diameter long and conical tail with finely rounded terminus. Differences with closely related species including D. solani, D. ausafi, D. angustus, D. dipsaci, D. drepanocercus, D. obesus and D. gallaeformans are discussed. In addition, Iranian populations of two known species, D. valveus and D. virtudesae, are morphologically characterised.

Two new species of Seinura are described and illustrated using both morphological and molecular characters. Seinura persica n. sp. is characterized by having females with a distinct cephalic region, stylet 19.5 (18-20) μm long, four incisures in the lateral fields, position of excretory pore anterior to the base of metacorpus, post-uterine sac 54.8 (50-60) μm long, and an elongate-conoid tail with a shallow depression on the dorsal side ending in a sharply pointed tip. Males have body length of 467 and 592 μm, spicules 15 and 16 μm long with a prominent triangular-shaped rostrum, developed condylus and no cucullus. Seinura hyrcania n. sp. is characterized by having an offset lip region, stylet 21.5 (18-24) μm long, three incisures in the lateral fields, excretory pore anterior to the base of the metacorpus, post-uterine sac 19 (12-25) μm long and conical tail ending in a filiform terminus. Morphological and morphometric diagnostic characters together with molecular data based on partial sequences of SSU and LSU of the ribosomal DNA gene are provided for these new species.

Cryptaphelenchus iranicus n. sp., recovered from bark and wood samples of a weakened Pinus nigra in Kermanshah Province, western Iran, is described. The new species has females with body length of 250-330 µm and males 230-275 µm long, lip region set-off from body contour, 7-8 μm long stylet with small basal swellings, excretory pore located at 1.5-2.0 body diam. posterior to median bulb, post-vulval uterine sac short, 7-10 µm long and conical female posterior body end (tail) ending to a pointed tip. Males of the new species have seven (1+2+2+2) caudal papillae and a short mucro at tail tip. Based on morphological characters, the new species is close to C. cirrus, C. latus and C. leptocaudus. Phylogenetic analyses using the D2/D3 fragment of 28S rDNA show the new species forming a clade with other Cryptaphelenchus species with maximal (1.00) Bayesian posterior probability (BPP) in Bayesian inference and 100% bootstrap value (BS) in the maximum likelihood method. The Cryptaphelenchus clade forms a monophyletic group with members of subfamily Ektaphelenchinae.

Tylencholaimellus persicus sp. n. is described and illustrated based on morphological and molecular characters. The new species is characterized by its 613-885 μm long body, expanded lip region separated from body contour by a sharp constriction, forming a large disk-like structure, odontostyle and odontophore respectively 12-14 and 6.5-8.0 μm long, female genital system mono-opisthodelphic with relatively long anterior uterine sac (AUS; 50-80 μm in length), position of vulva relative to the body length (V = 36.5-41.5), broadly rounded tail, abundant males in population with 22-25 μm long spicules and one ventromedian copulatory supplement. The new species is compared with five known species of the genus that have a perioral disc, rounded tail and AUS: T. coronatus, T. incertus, T. montanus, T. ozarkensis and T. projectus. Compared to these five species, the new species has an expanded lip region separated from body contour by a sharp constriction, but can further be separated by a combination of morphological and morphometric characters such as odontostyle length, tail shape, differences in ratios c´ and V and male characters. Because of having similar general morphology, the new species was also compared with a species of genus Margollus, M. bokanicus, and the differences between the two species are discussed. In addition to morphological and morphometric data, molecular phylogenetic analyses were performed using partial sequences of the 18S SSU and 28S LSU D2/D3 rDNA segments, in which the new species forms a clade with four species/isolates of Tylencholaimellus in the SSU tree and one isolate of Tylencholaimus in the LSU tree using Bayesian inference (BI).

Veleshkinema  iranicum n. gen., n. sp. is described and illustrated based on morphological, morphometric and molecular characters. The new genus is characterized by having slender females and males, stylet with asymmetrical knobs, dorsal gland orifice just posterior to subventral knob, lip region with flattened apex and eight sectors, pharynx with a non-muscular and non-valvular median bulb, pharyngeal glands slightly overlapping intestine dorsally, visible cellular cardia, female with a single gonad having a quadricolumellate crustaformeria with 8-10 cells in each column, no postvulval uterine sac and rounded and offset spermatheca containing spheroid sperm cells, males with arcuate tylenchoid spicules and subterminal bursa. The new genus is morphologically compared with four genera: Abursanema, Deladenus, Prothallonema and Sphaerularia. Molecular phylogenetic studies of the new genus using 808 bp partial sequences of SSU ribosomal RNA gene placed the new genus in a clade with Sphaerularia spp. In phylogenetic analyses using 756 bp partial sequences of the 28S ribosomal RNA gene (D2-D3 segments), the new genus formed a monophyletic group with Abursanema iranicum and Sphaerularia spp.

Laimaphalenchus hyrcanus n. sp., from bark samples of cypress (Cupressus sp.) and jujube (Ziziphus jujube Miller) from Gorgan, Golestan province in northern Iran, is described and illustrated based on morphological and molecular characters. The new species is characterized by females with 670-870 μm body length, slender stylet of 11-12 µm, six-lobed cephalic region not divided by ribs, three incisures in the lateral field with slightly areolated outer lines in the posterior region, cuticular vulval flap, males with two pairs of caudal papillae, and subcylindrical tail in both sexes ending in a single stalk-like terminus with four pedunculate tubercles bearing 9-10 finger-like projections. The new species most closely resembles L. persicus and L. penardi but it can be differentiated by its having three incisures in the lateral field and two pairs of caudal papillae in males. Molecular analysis of the D2/D3 region of the 28S ribosomal RNA gene indicates a sister-taxon relationship with L. penardi (Steiner, 1914) Filipjev & Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1941 and L. deconincki Elmiligy & Geraert, 1972.

Ektaphelenchoides fuchsi n. sp., recovered from a soil sample around the rhizosphere of Cucurbita maxima in western Iran, is described and illustrated based on morphological and molecular characters. The new species is characterized by its body length of 529-712 µm, continuous lip region, lateral fields with three incisures, total stylet length of 14-18 µm with rounded basal knobs, excretory pore 70-84 µm and hemizonid 87-96 µm from the anterior end, post-uterine sac short, 6-9 µm long in female and tail conoid with long filiform terminus in male. Based on morphological and molecular characters, the new species is close to E. kelardashtensis, E. attenuata, and E. musae. It differs from the closest species E. kelardashtensis by its longer sylet (14-18 vs 13-16 µm) and stylet with basal knobs vs not, longer post uterine sac (6-9 vs 3-6 µm), more posterior position of excretory pore and hemizonid (70-84 vs 55-66 and 87-96 vs 67-78 µm, respectively), and longer spicules (12-13 vs 8-10 µm). Comparisons with other species of Ektaphelenchoides are also discussed. Molecular analyses were performed based on 631 bp of the partial ribosomal RNA large subunit gene (D2/D3 of LSU) and showed that E. fuchsi n. sp. is unique when compared with other species of the genus for which sequences of that region are available.