Description of Longidorus cholevae sp. n. (Nematoda, Dorylaimida) from a riparian habitat in the Rila Mountains, Bulgaria

A description is provided of Longidorus cholevae sp. n., a bisexual species associated with wild cherry (Prunus avium L.) from the Rila Mountains, Bulgaria. The position of L. cholevae sp. n. among other spe-cies of the genus was elucidated by using morphological and molecular data. Phylogenetic analyses were performed of D2-D3 expansion domains of the 28S rRNA and the partial ITS1 containing regions by Neighbor-Joining, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference methods. The species is characterised by a female body length of 6.1–8.1 mm; long odontostyle (106–129 μm); lip region wide (21.5–24 μm) rounded and continuous with the body profile; amphidial pouches short and wide, funnel-shaped; a posteriorly situated guide ring (30–37 μm); normal arrangement of pharyngeal glands, and short bluntly rounded to hemispherical tail. Four juvenile stages indentified, first stage with elongate conoid tail. Males with 2–4 adanal pairs and a row of 11–13 single ventromedian supplements, spicules 96–120 μm long. Based both on morphological and molecular data the new species appearred to be the most similar with a group of species distributed in Europe sharing common charcters such as amphidial fovea, lip region an