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Rec. zool. Surv. <strong>India</strong> : <strong>110</strong>(<strong>Part</strong>–3) : 7-12, 2010ONE NEW AND THREE KNOWN SPECIES OF THE GENUS HELICOTYLENCHUSSTEINER, 1945 ASSOCIATED WITH BANANA FROM WEST BENGAL, INDIAVISWA VENKAT GANTAIT 1 *, TANMAY BHATTACHARYA 2 AND AMALENDU CHATTERJEE 1¹Nemathelminthes Section, <strong>Zoological</strong> <strong>Survey</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>India</strong>,M-Block, New Alipur, Kolkata-700 053, West Bengal, <strong>India</strong>.²Department <strong>of</strong> Zoology, Vidyasagar University,Medinipur, 72<strong>110</strong>2, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, <strong>India</strong>.* Corresponding author: e-mail- v.gantait@rediffmail.comINTRODUCTIONOne new and three known species <strong>of</strong> plant parasiticnematodes belonging to the genus HelicotylenchusSteiner, 1945, H. wasimi n. sp., H. crenacauda Sher,1966, H. dihystera (Cobb, 1893) Sher, 1961 and H.hydrophilus Sher, 1966 are being described andillustrated. The species were collected from rhizosphericsoil <strong>of</strong> banana plantations (Musa paradisiaca L. cvKanthali) in Paschim Medinipur district <strong>of</strong> West Bengal,<strong>India</strong>, during a taxonomic survey from March 2004 toFebruary 2006. H. wasimi n. sp. is characterized by itsrounded lip region without annulations, 26-27 µm longspear with anteriorly indented knobs, posteriorly located(808-809 µm from head end) vulva, anterior genitalbranch longer than posterior one, short hemisphericaltail with thick cuticular rounded terminus, tail with fourdistinct striations and phasmids located opposite toanus. H. hydrophilus is the first record from <strong>India</strong>.MATERIALS AND METHODSNematodes were collected from rhizospheric soilsamples (250 gm) around banana plantations (Musaparadisiaca L. cv Kanthali). Soil sample was taken froman area <strong>of</strong> 10 cm × 10 cm up to the depth <strong>of</strong> 20 cm, at adistance <strong>of</strong> 25 cm from the main bole <strong>of</strong> the orchard.The specimens were extracted from soil by Cobb’ssieving technique (Cobb, 1918) and decanting methodfollowed by Modified Baermann’s funnel technique(Christie and Perry, 1951); processed by Seinhorst’sslow dehydration method (Seinhorst, 1959); mountedon slides in anhydrous glycerin and sealed.Measurements were taken with the help <strong>of</strong> an ocularmicrometer using BX 41 Olympus research microscopewith drawing tube attachment. Dimensions weretabulated in accordance with De Man’s Formula (DeMan, 1884). Diagrams were drawn with the help <strong>of</strong> acamera lucida.Abbreviations used in the text as well as in thetable are as follows :L = body lengtha = body length / maximum body widthb = body length / oesophageal lengthc = body length / tail lengthc' = tail length / body width at anusV = distance from head end to vulva × 100 /body lengthV' = distance from head end to vulva × 100 /distance from head end to anusm = length <strong>of</strong> conus × 100 / stylet lengthO = distance between stylet base and orifice <strong>of</strong>dorsal oesophageal gland × 100 / styletlengthMB = distance between anterior end <strong>of</strong> body andcenter <strong>of</strong> median oesophageal bulb × 100/oesophageal lengthG 1= anterior genital branch × 100 / body lengthG 2= posterior genital branch × 100 / body length