New species of the genus Ektaphelenchus Fuchs, 1937 isolated from dead wood in northern Iran

A new species of the genus Ektaphelenchus, E. golestanicus n. sp., is described and illustrated based on morphological and morphometric characteristics. The new species was isolated from dead wood samples collected from natural forests in Golestan province, northern Iran. E. golestanicus n. sp. is mainly characterized by 347-378 μm long females (the currently shortest representative species of the genus), having three lines in lateral field, slightly offset cephalic region flat in the anterior end, well-developed stylet, 15.1-16.6 μm long, having a wide lumen and lacking basal knobs or swellings, excretory pore slightly more than one metacorpus length posterior to it, functional rectum and anus absent, posterior body region (tail) conical, narrowing towards the end, males with single precloacal papilla (P1), the second cloacal pair (P2) apparently lacking, and paired third caudal papillae (P3), arcuate and separate spicules 7-10 μm long along arc line with well-developed wide condylus, and tail with a small mucron at the terminus. The new species was morphologically compared with typologically similar small-sized species of Ektaphelenchus having three lines in the lateral field, conical posterior body end and stylet lacking basal knobs, namely E. apophysatus, E. joyceae and E. taiwanensis. It was further compared with E. goffarti and E. olitorius having a similar female posterior body end shape and unknown number of incisures in the lateral field, as well as Seinura informis and S. paratenuicaudata due to having obscure rectum and anus.