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Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) surveys have been conducted in both agricultural and natural habitats, including samples from sugarcane (Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania) [1], coffee (Jimma region of Ethiopia), finger millet (Eldoret region of Kenya), corn (eastern province of Rwanda), sand dunes (coastal beach of Gran Canaria) and other selected places in Belgium and Netherlands. This revealed an enormous diversity of PPN and allowed us to link more than 50 morphologically characterised PPN species with ribosomal and mitochondrial molecular barcodes (18S, D2-D3 region of 28S and ITS and cox1 sequences). Major results include discovery of four new PPN species, namely Heterodera dunensis from Gran Canaria [2]; Paratylenchus n. sp. from the Netherlands, Pratylenchus rwandae from Rwanda [3] and Rotylenchus wimbii from Kenya [4]; first reports of four Paratylenchus species in Belgium, one Paratylenchus species in Europe [5] and Cryphodera from Africa; synonymisation of Tylenchorhynchus agri with T. crassicaudata [1], Rotylenchus rhomboides with R. goodeyi and Cacopaurus with Paratylenchus; and corrective reassignment of multiple barcodes on public database that were previously unidentified or incorrectly classified [5]. Furthermore, our study also provides, for the first time, full length mitogenome and ribosomal DNA sequences of R. goodeyi, revealing the presence of two mitogenome variants within a single population. This new method made it possible to explore the use of full mitogenome sequences, originating from individual nematodes, in PPN diagnostics

The cosmopolitan root-knot nematodes of the genus Meloidogyne are considered as the most important plant-parasitic nematodes damaging almost all higher plant species. This paper provides an updated checklist of 105 valid species of Meloidogyne, along with their synonyms and non-valid members. Furthermore, species are grouped based upon their diagnostic characteristics of second-stage juveniles (tail shape, tail length, stylet length and dorsal gland orifice (DGO) distance from stylet base) and males (number of lateral incisures, stylet length, DGO and spicules length).

The yam nematode, Scutellonema bradys, is a major threat to yam (Dioscorea spp.) production across yam-growing regions. In West Africa, this species cohabits with many morphologically similar congeners and, consequently, its accurate diagnosis is essential for control and for monitoring its movement. In the present study, 46 Scutellonema populations collected from yam rhizosphere and yam tubers in different agro-ecological zones in Ghana and Nigeria were characterised by their morphological features and by sequencing of the D2-D3 region of the 28S rDNA gene and the mitochondrial COI genes. Molecular phylogeny, molecular species delimitation and morphology revealed S. bradys, S. cavenessi, S. clathricaudatum and three undescribed species from yam rhizosphere. Only S. bradys was identified from yam tuber tissue, however. For barcoding and identifying Scutellonema spp., the most suitable marker used was the COI gene. Additionally, 99 new Scutellonema sequences were generated using populations obtained also from banana, carrot, maize and tomato, including the first for S. paralabiatum and S. clathricaudatum, enabling the development of a dichotomous key for identification of Scutellonema spp. The implications of these results are discussed.

1) A. agricola (de Man 1884) Andr��ssy 1954 (Panahandeh et al. 2014c) 25 ♀♀: L = 579 (542���659) ��m; a = 34.2 (29.6���40.3); b = 6 (5.6���6.8); c = 3.6 (3.2���4); c�� = 15.2 (12���18); St = 10.7 (10���12) ��m; V = 56.8 (53.8���58.8); V�� = 78.8 (77.4���80.8) 3 ♂♂: L = 606 (591���630) ��m; a = 40.5 (36.9���42.6); b = 6.5 (6.3���6.8); c = 3.2 (3���3.4); c�� = 17.2 (15.1���19.1); St = 10.7 (10���11) ��m; Spicule = 15.7 (15 ���16) ��m Associated plants and localities: alfalfa (Kerman), apple (Hamedan), grapevine (Hamedan) and grass (West Azerbaijan). References: Karegar & Geraert 1997c [F]; Panahandeh et al. 2012a, 2014c [F]., Published as part of Alvani, Somaye, Mahdikhani-Moghadam, Esmat, Rouhani, Hamid, Mohammadi, Abbas & Karssen, Gerrit, 2016, Description of Basiria birjandiensis n. sp (Nematoda: Tylenchidae) from South Khorasan province with a checklist of the family Tylenchidae ��rley 1880 from Iran, pp. 345-373 in Zootaxa 4085 (3) on page 348, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4085.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/1052645, {"references":["De Man, J. G. (1884) Die frei in der reinen Erde und im suSSen Wasser lebenden Nematoden der niederlandischen Fauna. Brill, Leiden, 206 pp.","Andrassy, I. (1954) Revision der Gattung Tylenchus Bastian, 1865 (Tylenchidae, Nematoda). Acta Zoologica Hungaricae, 1, 5 - 42.","Panahandeh, Y., Pourjam, E. & Pedram, M. (2014 c) Four New Tylenchids (Tylenchina: Nematoda) For Nematode Fauna of Iran. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology, 16, 461 - 477.","Karegar, A. & Geraert, E. (1997 c) The genus Basiria Siddiqi, 1959 (Nematoda: Tylenchidae). III. Species with four lateral lines and posterior median bulb. Nematologica, 43, 407 - 429. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.1163 / 005125997 X 00039","Panahandeh, Y., Pourjam, E. & Tanha Maafi, Z. (2012 a) First report of the genus Aglenchus (Nematoda: Tylenchidae) in Iran. Proceedings of 20 th Iranian Plant Protection Congress. Plant diseases, Shiraz, Iran, 2012, 631."]}

Basiria birjandiensis n. sp. (Fig. 1) Measurements (Table 1). Female. Body almost straight to slightly curved ventrally after fixation, 584–748 µm (660.6±72.3). Cuticle with fine annuli, 0.5–1.0 µm (0.6±0.1) wide at mid body. Lateral fields with four incisures (1/ 3 of body width). Lip region high, flat at apex, not set off, non–striated, 2–4 µm (3.4±0.4) high and 5–7µm (6.3±0.5) wide at the base. Stylet with rounded knobs, 11–12 µm in length. Dorsal gland orifice located 6–9 µm posterior to stylet base. Amphidial aperture usually oblique and slit–like. Median bulb oval, weakly developed, 5– 8 µm wide and 8–14 µm long. Terminal bulb pyriform, 6–12 µm wide and 15–27 µm long. Pharyngo–intestinal valve flattened. Excretory pore located from isthmus level to the middle of the basal bulb, 78–91 µm from anterior end of the body. Deirids present in middle of lateral field, positioned at level of excretory pore. Postvulval uterine sac 8–14 µm (10.7±1.9) long. Spermatheca filled with sperm and offset. Tail filiform, 151–181 µm (164.1±13.5), with pointed terminus. Male. Similar to female, but body shorter, 475–583 µm (529±76.5), shorter tail, 93–119 µm (106±18.4) and lower c ´= 8–9.7 (9±0.9). Spicules ventrally curved, 18–19 µm (18.5±0.6), gubernaculum slightly curved about 4–5 µm (4.7±0.3). Etymology. From “Birjand” (the centre of the South Khorasan province) and –ensis (a Latin adjectival suffix, meaning “originating in”). Habitat and locality. Collected from the rhizosphere of Ziziphus zizyphus in South Khorasan province, Iran. Type material. Holotype (code number: MaUNS 111) and four paratypes (three slides, code numbers MaUNS 112–114 [three females], one slide, code number MaUNS 115 [one male]) deposited in the nematode collection of the Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (Mashhad, Iran). Paratypes code number WT 3661 [one female], code number WT 3662 [one female, one male], WT 3663 [two females] and WT 3664 [one juvenile, one female] at the Wageningen Nematode Collection, Plant Protection Organization (Wageningen, The Netherlands). Diagnosis. B. birjandiensis n. sp. is differentiated from other Basiria species by its shorter body length (584– 748 µm [660.6±72.3]), high lip region with flat apex, stylet 11–12 µm (11.3±0.5), cuticle with fine annuli (0.5–1 µm wide), V = 57–60 (58.5±0.8), V ´= 77–79 (78±0.7), filiform tail, 151–181 µm (164.1±13.5), c ratio 3.7–4.2 (3.9±0.1) and higher c´ value (14.3–17.2 [15.1±0.9]). Relationships. The new species shares an anteriorly situated median bulb and pyriform basal bulb with B. elegans (Khan & Khan 1975) Bajaj & Bhatti 1979, B. dolichura Loof 1971 and B. jirians Renubala & Dhanachand 1992, but it differs as follows: From B. elegans it differs by the shorter body (584–748 vs 750-900 µm), finer body annules (0.5–1.0 vs 1.5– 1.7 µm), higher a ratio (37–42 vs 30–36), shorter tail (151–181 vs 192–218 µm), higher c' ratio (14.3–17.2 vs 13), higher V´ ratio (77–79 vs 74–75) and, tail shape: filiform with pointed terminus in B. birjandiensis n. sp. but conoid with rounded terminus in B. elegans. It differs from B. dolichura by shorter body length (584–748 vs 820–930 µm), longer stylet (11–12 vs 9–11 µm), shorter tail (151–181 vs 220–276 µm), lower c ' ratio (14.3–17.2 vs 16–23), higher V ratio (57–60 vs 52–57) and shorter post vulval uterine sac (8–14 vs 15–16 µm). It differs from B. jirians by longer stylet length (11–12 vs 8–9 µm), longer tail (151–181 vs 130–136 µm), lower V and V' ratio (57–60 vs 61–62 and 77–79 vs 83 respectively) and the position of the excretory pore: 78–91 µm from the anterior end in B. birjandiensis n. sp. vs 64–66 µm in B. jirians. A list of species of the family Tylenchidae recorded to date from Iran, as well as additional data on their morphometrics, geographical distributions and associated plants, is given below

In order to identify plant-parasitic nematodes (family Tylenchidae Örley 1880) associated with Ziziphus zizyphus in Iran, 360 soil and root samples were collected from South Khorasan province during 2012-2014. Herein, a new species of Basiria and several known members of the family Tylenchidae are reported. B. birjandiensis n. sp. is characterized by short body length (584-748 μm [660.6±72.3]), lip region with flat apex, stylet 11-12 μm (11.3±0.5), excretory pore position varying from isthmus level to the middle of the basal bulb (78-91 μm from the anterior end of the body), post-vulval uterine sac 8-14 μm (10.7±1.9) long, filiform tail (151-181 μm, c= 3.7-4.2, c= 14.3-17.2) and body annuli 0.5-1 μm (0.6±0.1) wide. A checklist of Tylenchidae species from Iran is also presented.