Cyber catalogue and revision of the nematode genus Enchodelus (Dorylaimida, Nordiidae)

• Published in: Biodiversity data journal 2024-09, Vol.12, p.e126315-59
• Main Authors: Elshishka, Milka, Mladenov, Aleksandar, Altash, Stela, Álvarez-Ortega, Sergio, Peña-Santiago, Reyes, Peneva, Vlada
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: altitude; Biodiversity; Bioinformatics; Caucasus region; collection; distribution; DNA; Enchodelus; genus; Geographical distribution; Morphology; New records; new spec; New species; omnivores; Spain; species; Species diversity; Switzerland; Taxonomic revision; vegetation
• ISSN: 1314-2828; 1314-2836; 1314-2828
• DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.12.e126315

The genus is an intriguing free-living dorylaimid nematode taxon. Its representatives display a distinct distributional pattern as they are mainly spread in high altitudinal enclaves of the Northern Hemisphere, being often associated with mosses and cliff vegetation. Although their feeding habits have not been studied with experimental protocols, it is traditionally assumed that they are omnivorous.The genus has not been recently revised; descriptions of many 'old species' (that have been described long ago and have not been reported since their original discovery) are of poor quality, hardly discoverable and do not conform to the nowadays taxonomical standards. Thus, a comprehensive compilation and analysis of their literature data is indispensable to provide new insights into the taxonomy of the genus and to elucidate its evolutionary relationships. This contribution provides a cyber catalogue of all species, 28 in total. It compiles available information from the key European Research Infrastructures, such as TreatmentBank, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics Literature Services (SIBiLS), the Catalogue of Life (CoL), Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) and Biodiversity Literature Repository (BLR). Data about their distribution (geographical records and habitats) are incorporated too and all brought together. It is completed with discussion and notes for some species, along with information on species distributions and microhabitats. Here, all available information on species is brought together. This will contribute to a more complete assessment of species diversity and distribution and support further biogeographical and ecological research.Besides, type material Altherr, 1952, deposited in the Museo Cantonale di Storia Naturale di Lugano (Switzerland), is re-examined and the species is considered as . Further, a new species of the genus found in Caucasus, Georgia is described after its morphological and molecular study; also morphological and molecular data for (de Man, 1880) Thorne, 1939, the type species of the genus, collected from Spain are provided.