New insight into the identification and molecular phylogeny of dagger nematodes of the genus Xiphinema (Nematoda: Longidoridae) with description of two new species

The genus Xiphinema constitutes a large group of about 260 species of plant‐ectoparasitic nematodes. The group is polyphagous and distributed almost worldwide. Some of the species of this genus damage agricultural crops by direct feeding on root cells as well as by transmitting nepoviruses. Species discrimination in Xiphinema is complicated by phenotypic plasticity leading to potential misidentification. We conducted nematode surveys in cultivated and natural environments in Spain from 2009 to 2012, from which we identified 20 populations of Xiphinema species morphologically close to the virus‐vector nematode species Xiphinema diversicaudatum, three apomictic populations tentatively identified as species from the complex Xiphinema aceri‐pyrenaicum group, and one population morphologically different from all others that is characterized by a female tail elongate to conical and absence of uterine differentiation. We developed comparative multivariate analyses for these related species by using morphological and morphometrical features together with molecular data from nuclear ribosomal DNA genes [D2‐D3 expansion segments of large ribosomal subunit 28S, internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1), and partial small ribosomal subunit (18S)]. The results of multivariate, molecular, and phylogenetic analysis confirmed the morphological hypotheses and allowed the delimitation and discrimination of two new species in the genus described herein as Xiphinema baetica sp. nov. and Xiphinema turdetanensis sp. nov. , and ten known species: Xiphinema adenohystherum, Xiphinema belmontense, Xiphinema cohni, Xiphinema coxi europaeum, Xiphinema gersoni, Xiphinema hispidum, Xiphinema italiae, Xiphinema lupini, Xiphinema nuragicum, and Xiphinema turcicum. Multivariate analyses based on quantitative and qualitative characters and phylogenetic relationships of Xiphinema spp. based on the three molecular ribosomal markers resulted in a partial consensus of these species grouping as nematode populations were maintained for the majority of morphospecies groups (e.g. morphospecies groups 5 and 6), but not in some others (e.g. position of Xiphinema granatum), demonstrating the usefulness of these analyses for helping in the diagnosis and identification of Xiphinema spp. The clade topology of phylogenetic trees of D2‐D3 and partial 18S regions in this study were congruent in supporting the polyphyletic status of some characters, such as the female tail shape and the degree of development of the genital system in species with both genital branches equally developed. This is the most complete phylogenetic study for Xiphinema non‐americanum‐group species. Agreement between phylogenetic trees and some morphological characters (uterine spines, pseudo‐Z organ, and tail shape) was tested by reconstruction of their histories on rDNA‐based trees using parsimony and Bayesian approaches. Thus, integrative taxonomy, based on the combination of multivariate, molecular analyses with morphology, constitutes a new insight into the identification of Xiphinema species. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London