Sudhausia aristotokia n. gen., n. sp. and S. crassa n. gen., n. sp. (Nematoda: Diplogastridae): viviparous new species with precocious gonad development

Abstract

Two new species of diplogastrid nematodes, Sudhausia aristotokia n. gen., n. sp. and S. crassa n. gen., n. sp., were isolated from dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Ghana and South Africa, respectively. Sudhausia n. gen. is circumscribed by stomatal morphology, namely the presence of a tube-shaped gymnostom, a pair of conical subventral denticles in the metastegostom, and a disk-like telostegostom bearing minute conical denticles. Other characters distinguishing the new genus are the presence of a bursa in the male and a vulva lined anteriorly and posteriorly by columns of sac-like cells. The two new species, both of which are hermaphroditic, are distinguished from each other by spicule and gubernaculum morphology, male papillae arrangement, bursal shape, vaginal morphology, and phasmid position. A suite of unusual developmental traits that distinguishes Sudhausia n. spp. includes maturation of the gonad and development of juvenile progeny before moulting to adulthood, a two-fold increase in embryo size during development, and constitutive vivipary. A phylogeny inferred from 11 ribosomal protein-coding genes and a fragment of the small subunit rRNA gene show Sudhausia n. gen. to be divergent from other sequenced diplogastrid taxa, including those characterised by a tube-like stoma. The two new species represent useful new reference points for the study of feeding-structure evolution in Diplogastridae.