Description of Rotylenchus graecus n. sp. from Greece (Nematoda: Hoplolaimidae)

Rotylenchus graecus n. sp. is described and illustrated from a bisexual population found in Filippias, Epirus, northwestern Greece, in the rhizosphere of ivy (Hedera helix L.) and giant reed (Arundo donax L.) grown on the edge of irrigation canals. Rotylenchus graecus n. sp. is characterized by a lip region with five annules, stylet length of 29-32 mum, vulva position at 53-65%, female tail pointed-conoid with 15-23 annules, and bursa with regularly annulated margins enveloping tail. The new species differs from all other Rotylenchus species with couoid tails in having a greater number of tail annules. Rotylenchus graecus n. sp. appears closely related to R. acuspicaudatus Van den Berg &Heyns, 1974, but differs from it primarily by the greater number of female tail annules (15-23 vs. 13-16), stylet length (29--32 vs. 25.7-28.3 mum), and the less ventrally protruding bursa, which has smooth posterior margins rather than the finger-like appearance of the posterior bursal annules in R. acuspicaudatus.