First morphological and molecular characterisation of Hoplolaimus columbus Sher, 1963 (Tylenchida: Hoplolaimidae) from Iraq

The Columbia lance nematode, Hoplolaimus columbus , is an important pest that can cause severe damage to a wide host range of agricultural crops. During a survey on the biodiversity of plantparasitic nematodes in the Misan province, southeast Iraq, H. columbus was discovered around the rhizosphere of oleander. The morphological and morphometric data were provided for the recovered species. The phylogenetic relationships of the Iraqi population of H. columbus with representatives of the family Hoplolaimidae were reconstructed using partial sequences of the small subunit, D2 -D3 expansion segments of the large subunit, and internal transcribed spacer regions of ribosomal DNA based on Bayesian inference. In three inferred SSU, LSU and ITS phylogenies, Iraqi H. columbus belonged to the H. columbus / H. seinhorsti clade. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the species from Iraq.