During a survey of soil nematodes in Iran, a new species of Ditylenchus Filipjev, 1936 was discovered. Ditylenchus sarvarae sp. n. is characterised by its body length (1.0-1.4 mm), lateral field with seven incisures and without areolation, long postuterine sac (1.8-2.8 times the corresponding body diameter) and conical female tail with pointed tip (68-89 μm long, c = 13.7-18.2, c' = 4.2-5.1). Male specimens have conical tails (64-70 μm long, c = 14.5-16.7, c' = 4.0-4.5), spicules (22-26 μm long) and gubernaculum (8-10 μm long). Measurements and illustrations are provided for this new species. A molecular study of the 28S rDNA region of D. sarvarae sp. n. demonstrates that the Iranian species belongs to a separate group compared with the other molecularly characterized species of genus Ditylenchus.
Keywords: Nematoda, 28S rDNA, morphometric, new species, phylogeny.