Chylorhabditis crispulae n. sp. (Rhabditida: Rhabditidae) isolated from dead wood of Quercus crispula Blume collected in Hyogo, Japan

Summary A new rhabditid nematode was isolated from dead wood of Quercus crispula with Japanese oak wilt. The nematode is typologically close to Chylorhabditis epuraeae , and considered to be congeneric to this species. Phylogenetic analysis based on ribosomal DNA small subunit sequences corroborated this close relationship. Typologically, the new species is characterised by its relatively large body (1255-1518 μ m in the male and 1610-1943 μ m in the female), arrangement of bursal rays (4 + 1 + 1 + 3), dorsally directed first, fifth, and seventh rays, very long bipartite spicule, and some other minor traits. According to these morphological characters and molecular phylogenetic status, the new species is described and illustrated as Chylorhabditis crispulae n. sp. Genus Chylorhabditis was once synonymised with Buetschlinema , but resurrection of the genus is proposed and the generic characters of Chylorhabditis are emended/updated.