Tripylina stramenti ( Yeates, 1972 ) Tsalolikhin, 1983

Zhao, Zeng Qi, 2009, A review of the genus Tripylina Brzeski, 1963 (Nematoda: Triplonchida), with descriptions of five new species from New Zealand, Zootaxa 2238, pp. 1-24 : 20-21

Tripylina stramenti ( Yeates, 1972) Tsalolikhin, 1983 .

Synonym. Trischistoma stramenti Yeates, 1972

Measurements (after Yeates 1972; Tsalolikhin 1983). Females (n = 4): L = 1490–1690 μm; a = 26–36; b = 5.7–6.4; c = 13–19.3; c’ = 2.5–3.5; V = 61–65%.

Male: not known.

Description (after Tsalolikhin 1983). Body relatively large, C- or G-shaped upon fixation, curved ventrally. Cuticle smooth, with fine circular markings, about 0.9 μm thick in vulval region. Six long and four short cephalic setae, 25–40% of head diameter long. Dorsal stomatal wall slightly thickened; dorsal tooth large; two subventral denticles anterior to dorsal tooth. A single ventromedian cervical seta about 1/2 body diameter anterior to nerve ring. Vulva simple, without protuberant lips.

Diagnosis and relationships. The main distinctive features of T. stramenti are great body length and the presence of a single cervical seta.

Seven species of Tripylina are less than 1300 μm in body length, so T. stramenti (1490–1690 μm) is easily differentiated from them. T. stramenti is similar to the remaining species in the genus ( T. longa , T. yeatesi sp. nov. and T. kaikouura sp. nov.) in total body length. It differs from T. longa in vulva position ( De Man’s Index V = 61–65 vs 76–80%), and from T. yeatesi sp. nov. and T. kaikoura sp. nov. in having a single cervical seta ( Table 3).

T. stramenti is similar to T. tearoha sp. nov., T. manurewa sp. nov., T. tamaki sp. nov., T. yeatesi sp. nov., T. kaikoura sp. nov., T. sheri , T. longa and T. macroseta in having two subventral denticles anterior to dorsal tooth, but differs from T. arenicola and T. ursulae which have two subventral denticles posterior to dorsal tooth ( Table 3).

T. stramenti is similar to T. kaikoura sp. nov., T. longa and T. yeatesi sp. nov. in having two subventral denticles anterior to the dorsal tooth. However, it has a single cervical seta, while T. longa has two cervical setae, and T. kaikoura sp. nov., and T. yeatesi sp. nov. have no cervical setae ( Table 3).

Habitat and distribution. Litter and moss. Reported from New Zealand and Africa. Original collection from litter under a regrowth of bush dating from a fire in 1945–46, dominated by Weinmannia racemosa (Kamahi) , Cyathea medullaris (black tree-fern) and Brachyglottis repanda (rangiora), Taita Experimental Station, Lower Hutt, New Zealand ( Yeates 1972). Also collected in moss from rock, Lago Amelia, West Africa ( Andrássy 2008).

Etymology. The species epithet is derived from the Latin stramentum (= straw or litter).

Remarks. The original description states that T. stramenti is a predacious species.