Free-living Marine Nematodes from the Andhra Pradesh Coast, India: One New Record from India and Three New State Records

The present study is an attempt to explore the diversity of free-living marine nematodes along the Andhra Pradesh coast, India. Herein, four species are reported, namely Gammanema fennicum (Gerlach, 1953) Gerlach, 1964, Chromaspirina parapontica Luc & De Coninck, 1959, Corononema parvum Nicholas & Stewart, 1995 and Rhynchonema hirsutum Hopper, 1961. Gammanema fennicum (Gerlach, 1953) Gerlach, 1964 is being recorded for the first time from India, originally described from the East Baltic Sea. The other three species reported are new state records for Andhra Pradesh: Chromaspirina parapontica Luc & De Coninck, 1959, Corononema parvum Nicholas & Stewart, 1995, and Rhynchonema hirsutum Hopper, 1961. These species were originally recorded in southwest England, Australia and the Atlantic coast of the USA (Gulf of Mexico), respectively. In India, C. parapontica was previously reported from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, while C. parvum and R. hirsutum were earlier recorded only from Puducherry. The study provides detailed morphological descriptions and photomicrographs of all identified species. The findings highlight the importance of continued biodiversity assessments in Indian coastal ecosystems, emphasizing the need for further research on marine nematode diversity across different geographic regions.