Description of Meloidogyne piperi sp.n. (Nematoda: Meloidogynidae) isolated from the roots of Piper nigrum in South India Ganguly Sudershan1,*, Sahoo N.K.2, Eapen Santhosh J.3 1Division of Nematology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012. 2Department of Nematology, Orissa University of Agricultural Technology, Bhubaneswar. 3Indian Institute of Spice Research, Calicut, Kerala-673 012. *E-mail: sg_nemaf@iari.ernet.in
Abstract One new species of root knot nematode, namely Meloidogyne piperi sp.n., collected from the roots of Piper nigrum growing in Kerala state of India, has been described and illustrated. The species is diagnosed by the characteristic perineal pattern of its females with broken wavy striae in both dorsal and ventral arch and spreading of ventral striae in lateral region of one side only, numerous striae in perineum region, absence of tail whorl, lateral incisures and posterior protuberance; head region with three annules behind lip cap, the first annule anteriorly directed, the second one low and regressed while the third annule wide and outwardly directed, dosral gland orifice located almost at 4.5 μm from the spear knobs, excretory pore located almost opposite to the median bulb, transversely wide spear knobs in females and absence of males. Its second stage juveniles are characterised by having L=310–400 μm; stylet=11–13 μm; dorsal oesophageal gland orifice=3–4 μm; tail=40–53 μm; h=5–16 μm; c=7.5–8.5; c’=5–6, two head annules and distinct rectal dilation. M. piperi sp.n. has been differentiated from the closely related species M. megadora Whitehead, 1968 and M. incognita (Kofoid & White, 1919) Chitwood, 1949. Top Key words Meloidogyne piperi sp.n., root-knot nematode, new species, black pepper, Piper nigrum, Kerala, India, systematics. Top |