New Insights into the Taxonomy of Dorylaimellus
This article highlights the importance of describing Dorylaimellus (Dorylaimellus) grandis sp. nov., a nematode widely distributed in natural habitats across southern Iberia. The study integrates detailed morphology, LM and SEM ilustrations, and molecular analyses based on 18S and 28S rDNA. The species exhibits distinctive anatomical traits, including a cap-like lip region, a flask-shaped cheilostom with refractive walls, a weakly muscular anterior pharyngeal region with a spindle-shaped and valve behind the odontophore base, and a conoid to subcylindroid tail. These features support its separation from related taxa. The results confirm an intricate scenario for elucidating both the phylogeny and the taxonomy of Dorylaimellinae in particular, and of Belondiridae in general. The morphological heterogeneity of the group is even more complex than usually assumed, and its internal evolutionary relationships are not well established as the phylogenies derived from the molecular analyses significantly differ depending on the gene considered.
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