An integrative taxonomic study of the needle nematode complexLongidorus goodeyiHooper, 1961 (Nematoda: Longidoridae) with description of a new species.

Needle nematodes are polyphagous root-ectoparasites parasitizing a wide range of economically important plants not only by directly feeding on root cells, but also by transmitting nepoviruses. This study deciphers the diversity of the complexLongidorus goodeyithrough integrative diagnosis method, based on a combination of morphological, morphometrical, multivariate analysis and molecular data. A newLongidorusspecies,Longidorus panderaltumn. sp. is described and illustrated from a population associated with the rhizosphere of asphodel (Asphodelus ramosusL.) in southern Spain. Morphologically,L. panderaltumn. sp. is characterized by having a moderately long female body (5.2-7.0 mm), lip region bluntly rounded and slightly offset by a depression with body contour, amphidial pouch with slightly asymmetrical lobes, odontostyle 80.5-101.0 mu m long, tail short and conoid rounded.Longidorus panderaltumn. sp. is quite similar toL. goodeyiandL. onubensisin major morphometrics and morphology. However, differential morphology in the tail shape of first-stage juvenile, phylogeny and haplonet analyses indicate they are three distinct valid species. This study defines those three species as members ofL. goodeyicomplex group and reveals the taxonomical complexity of the genusLongidorus. ThisL. goodeyicomplex group demonstrated that the biodiversity ofLongidorusin this region is still not fully clarified.