Rec. zool. Surv. India: 110(Part-3) : 7-12, 2010 ONE NEW AND THREE KNOWN SPECIES OF THE GENUS HELICOTYLENCHUS STEINER, 1945 ASSOCIATED WITH BANANA FROM WEST BENGAL, INDIA VISWA VENKAT GANTAITl *, TANMAY BHATTACHARYA2 AND AMALENDU CHATTERJEEl INemathelminthes Section, Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipur, Kolkata-700 053, West Bengal, India. 2Department of Zoology, Vzdyasagar University, Medinipur, 721102, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India. * Corresponding author:
[email protected] INTRODUCTION slow dehydration method (Seinhorst, 1959); mounted One new and three known species of plant parasitic on slides in anhydrous glycerin and sealed. nematodes belonging to the genus Helicotylenchus Measurements were taken with the help of an ocular Steiner, 1945, H. wasimi n. sp., H. crenacauda Sher, micrometer using BX 41 Olympus research microscope 1966, H. dihystera (Cobb, 1893) Sher, 1961 and H. with drawing tube attachment. Dimensions were hydrophilus Sher, 1966 are being described and tabulated in accordance with De Man's Formula (De illustrated. The species were collected from rhizospheric Man, 1884). Diagrams were drawn with the help of a soil of banana plantations (Musa paradisiaca L. cv camera lucida. Kanthali) in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, Abbreviations used in the text as well as in the India, during a taxonomic survey from March 2004 to table are as follows : February 2006. H. wasimi n. sp. is characterized by its L body length rounded lip region without annulations, 26-27 ]lm long a body length / maximum body width spear with anteriorly indented knobs, posteriorly located b body length / oesophageal length (808-809 ]lm from head end) vulva, anterior genital c body length / tail length branch longer than posterior one, short hemispherical cl tail length / body width at anus tail with thick cuticular rounded terminus, tail with four v distance from head end to vulva x 100 / distinct striations and phasmids located opposite to body length anus.