Description of sp. n. (Nematoda: Aphelenchoididae) from Iran.

During a survey on the soil nematodes, a population of the genus was collected around the rhizosphere of persimmon in Guilan Province, Iran. The morphological and molecular characters confirmed the new species, namely sp. n. The new species is characterized by a female body length (699-1068 μm), lip region offset from the rest of the body by a slight constriction, lateral fields with six incisures, stylet 12-13.5 μm long, with a clear basal swelling, excretory pore 1.5 metacorpal length posterior to base of the metacorpus, post uterine sac elongate, about 4-7 times than the vulval body diameter; conical female tail with a single centrally located mucron with tiny projection close to the tail tip, male body length (663-908 μm), and spicule well developed with rounded condylus, blunt conical rostrum, and a hook-like tip of dorsal limb. The new species belongs to the Group 2 category of species and was similar to seven known species with six lateral field incisures, including , , , , , , and The molecular phylogeny based on 28S rDNA revealed that the new species stands close to (MN931591; MN931592) and two unidentified (KY769057; LC583315). The measurements, line illustrations, LM photographs, and phylogenetic analysis are given for the new species.