A proposal to synonymize Loffienema with Haematozoon, Quercorhabditis with Diploscapteroides, and Stegorhabditis with Stomachorhabditis (Nematoda Rhabditida, Rhabditomorpha), including keys to species identification
Author
Abolafia, Joaquín
text
Zootaxa
2023
2023-03-28
5258
2
231
238
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5258.2.5
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.5258.2.5
1175-5326
7777125
E14F9B48-3A35-43B7-86B3-424896320230
Stegorhabditis
Shah, Hussain, Vaid & Ahmad, 2015a
This genus is characterized by having lip region very narrow, amphids very posterior, stoma tubular, long, having long denticles at metastegostom, pharynx with swollen, ovoid metacorpus, female reproductive system didelphicamphidelphic, tail in both sexes filiform, bursa absent and spicules with rounded and ventrally bent manubrium. This morphology agrees with the species of the genus
Stomachorhabditis
Andrássy, 1970
with which it is indistinguishable.
The authors that proposed the creation of the genus
Stegorhabditis
distinguished the specimens of this genus in having "six lips, evenly cuticularized stoma, presence of glottoid apparatus, a pair of setose denticles on each plate of stegostom, absence of stomach like folding in intestine, and in shape of spicules and gubernaculum". However, these characters appear in the species of the genus
Stomachorhabdis
. Thus, e. g., the presence of six lips and the absence of stomach-like folding appear clearly in
S. fastidiosa
described by
Massey (1971)
, setose denticles (incorrectly described as "a pair on each plate" because only one denticle is visible on each valve of the glottoid apparatus) are present at the stoma of all species of the genus, while the morphology of spicules and gubernaculum are identical in
S. vietnamicus
described by
Andrássy (1970)
and
S. neotropica
described by
Andrássy (2001)
. On the other hand, the presence of a glottoid apparatus in
S. abursata
was wrongly drawn being this structure clearly absent in the light microscopy pictures provided by the authors. According to this,
Stegorhabditis
is proposed as a junior synonym of
Stomachorhabditis
.
The only species described in
Stegorhabditis
,
S. abursata
Shah, Hussain, Vaid & Ahmad, 2015a
, is very similar to other species belong to the genus
Stomachorhabditis
, distinguished from them by having lip region poorly differentiated from the adjacent part of body. According to this,
S. abursata
is transferred to the genus
Stomachorhabditis
as
S. abursata
(
Shah, Hussain, Vaid & Ahmad, 2015a
)
n. comb.