Merliniidae, Siddiqi, 1971

Ghaderi, Reza, Karegar, Akbar, Miraeiz, Esmaeil & Hashemi, Kobra, 2017, Comparative morphology of the anterior end of selected taxa of Merliniidae Siddiqi, 1971 (Nematoda: Tylenchoidea), with morphological characterisation of two species and taxonomic keys to several genera, Zootaxa 4300 (4), pp. 571-588 : 584

Key to genera of Merliniidae

[List of genera according to Sturhan (2012) and Siddiqi & Sturhan (2014)]

1. Deirids absent........................................................................................2

- Deirids present........................................................................................3

2. Lateral field with four incisures; caudal cuticle of females and juveniles without refractive inner layer; cuticle without longitu- dinal striae................................................................................. Telomerlinius

- Lateral field with six incisures; caudal cuticle of females and juveniles with refractive inner layer; cuticle mostly with longitu- dinal striae................................................................................. Geocenamus

3. Cephalic framework slightly sclerotized ( Fig. 2 G–N)......................................................... 4

- Cephalic framework heavily sclerotized ( Fig. 2 A–F).........................................................5

4. Cephalic radial grooves present; female tail pointed to subcylindrical, with refractive inner cuticle layer at terminus, but with- out distinct hyaline portion; four lateral incisures in J4................................................. Merlinius

- Cephalic radial grooves absent; female tail elongate-conoid to pointed, without refractive inner cuticle layer at terminus, but with distinct hyaline portion; six lateral incisures in J4.................................................. Nagelus

5. Female tail with refractive inner cuticle layer..................................................... Paramerlinius

- Female tail without refractive inner cuticle layer.............................................................6

6. Female stylet very long, more than 90 µm...................................................... Macrotylenchus

- Female stylet shorter, less than 50 µm.....................................................................7

7. Pharyngeal glands mostly overlapping intestine; head usually with 2–5 transverse annuli; female tail pointed to cylindrical; four lateral incisures in J4................................................................... Pratylenchoides

- Pharyngeal glands offset from intestine; head with 5–10 transverse annuli; female tail cylindrical; six lateral incisures in J4........................................................................................... Amplimerlinius

Figures

FIGURE 2. Female anterior ends of several species of Merliniidae from Iran: A. Amplimerlinius uramanatiensis; B. A. macrurus; C. Paramerlinius neohexagrammus; D. A. paraglobigerus; E – G. A. globigerus; H. Nagelus obscurus; I & J. Merlinius brevidens; K. M. microdorus; L & M. M. nanus; N. M. indicus. All scale-bars = 10 µm.