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We report here a specimen of the horsehair worm (Gordiida, Nematomorpha) Spinochordodes bacescui (Căpuşe, 1965) found in a patient´s urine. This is the first record of this species from Serbia and the sixth gordiid species known in Serbia. It is discussed that there is no evidence that gordiids are parasites of humans. Instead, gordiids parasitize terrestrial insects, which release their mature gordiid parasite into water and may thereby also use containers in human surroundings. Pseudoparasites, such as Spinochordodes bacescui, do not pose a threat to human health nor are they a serious public health issue.

We report a female Chordodes anthophorus from a Giant Asian Mantis (Hierodula membranacea) for the first time from Iran. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to describe the characters and substructures precisely. We demonstrate characteristic cuticular patterns for Chordodes anthophorus. The presence of five types of areoles including simple, tubercle, crowned and circumcluster areoles and also crowned areoles with long fi laments which is a common feature in females, confi rm our investigation.

Digitally accessible Primary Biodiversity Data (PBD) are currently available through a number of web-based platforms. This information is allowing for a growing number of ecological, biodiversity informatics or conservation projects. Most of this information comes from Natural History Collections (NHC) worldwide. Despite well-known limitations, NHC data are particularly useful as a source of data on invertebrates, which comprise about 99% of animal life. However, a presumably very high amount of PBD is still not digitally accessible. Even the most important scientific collections in developed countries are not fully inventoried or digitally accessible. Furthermore, species determination rates remain alarmingly low for some collections, and most existing determinations probably should be retested. This is particularly true of expensive, difficult-to-obtain deep-sea benthic samples. This paper reviews the database on material collected by the German RV ‘Walther Herwig I and II’ during 1966-1978 research cruises to the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean (SAO), stored in the invertebrate collection (invertebrates except Mollusca, Arthropoda and Annelida) of the Zoological Museum of Hamburg. We found that out of 3,305 records, at least 204 species were identified, 72% are still undetermined at species level and 65% at genus level. While sampling of more remote geographic areas and the use of a wider variety of sampling methods are still necessary, supporting the training of an army of taxonomists will be of paramount importance to overcome the daunting task of analyzing the huge number of samples. stored in museum collections. A community-wide effort is urgently needed to address this issue, and international cooperation must play a key role in this endeavor.

Freshwater hairworms (class Gordiida) are members of the phylum Nematomorpha that use terrestrial arthropods as definitive hosts but reside as free-living adult worms in rivers, lakes, or streams. The genus Gordius consists of 90 described species, of which three species were described from freshwater habitats in North America. In this paper we describe a new species of Gordius from terrestrial habitats in Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana, United States. Oddly, each year hundreds of adult free-living worms appear after bouts of heavy rain on streets, sidewalks, and lawns during the winter season, when terrestrial arthropod hosts are not active. The new species is described based on morphological characters of adults and non-adult stages including the egg strings, eggs, larvae, and cysts. Adult males have a unique row of bristles on the ventral inner side of each tail lobe and a circular pattern of bristles on the terminal end of each lobe, which distinguishes them from all other described North American species of Gordius. The egg string, larval, and cyst morphology of this new species conform to previous descriptions of non-adult hairworm stages for the genus Gordius. However, the eggs of this new species of hairworm are unique, as they contain an outer shell separated by distinct space from a thick inner membrane. The consistent occurrence of this gordiid in terrestrial habitats, along with its distinct egg morphology, suggests that this new species of hairworm has a terrestrial life cycle.

Se hace referencia a la primera cita de Gordius albopunctatus Müller, 1927 (Gordioida) de la península ibérica, a partir de un ejemplar macho y otro hembra capturados en la Sierra de Guadarrama (Madrid). Esta cita es la más meridional de su distribución de modo que se amplía notablemente su distribución biogeográfica.

Gordiids, or freshwater hairworms, are members of the phylum Nematomorpha that use terrestrial definitive hosts (arthropods) and live as adults in rivers, lakes, or streams. The genus Paragordius consists of 18 species, one of which was described from the Nearctic in 1851. More than 150 years later, we are describing a second Paragordius species from a unique habitat within the Nearctic; the Madrean Sky Island complex. The Madrean Sky Islands are a series of isolated high mountains in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States (Arizona and New Mexico), and are well known for their high diversity and endemicity. The new species is described based on both molecular data (COI barcoding) and morphological characters of the eggs, larvae, cysts, and adults. Adult females have unique small oblong mounds present on the interior of the trifurcating lobes with randomly dispersed long hairs extending from the furrows between the mounds. Marked genetic differences support observed morphological differences. This species represents the second new hairworm to be described from the Madrean Sky Islands, and it may represent the first endemic hairworm from this biodiversity hotspot.

A new species, Chordodes colchis, is described from several locations in Georgia. The species resembles some other Chorodes species, especially C. anthophorus, which has also been described from Georgia, but differs in conspicuous details. The new species possesses prominent thorn areoles, which were not described in C. anthophorus. The new species is the seventh species known from Georgia.

Three horsehair worms (Nematomorpha) are recorded from Nagaland, India. The first species is Chordodes combiareolatus, which was recently described from Nagaland. The second is Chordodes cf. furnessi, earlier reported from Meghalaya, and some new observations are added. The third is a new species, described as Beatogordius nagalandis sp. n. This is the first report of the genus Beatogordius in India and this observation fits well into the Gondwana distribution of the genus. The species is quite similar to B. chinensis, reported from South China.

The number of priapulid species occurring in the waters around New Zealand is uncertain, as up to four species were reported and three of them declared as doubtful. Our investigation of 28 specimens from the NIWA collection (Auckland, New Zealand) document three species. Three specimens of Priapulus tuberculatospinosus come from circum-antarctic waters. Around New Zealand, Priapulopsis australis is most abundant, less abundant is Priapulus tuberculatospinosus. Two specimens are described here as a new species, Priapulopsis papillatus sp. nov., as they deviate in several characters from the other species. These characters are the shape of the first ring teeth, presence of large, abundant and regularly arranged trunk papillae, a peculiar surface structure of the trunk and peculiarities in the posterior ringpapillae. All species are described by scanning electron microscopy and several new observations are reported. In addition to postlarval and adult specimens, 15 larval specimens are reported. The larvae resemble very much the previously described larvae of Priapulopsis bicaudatus and therefore likely belong to the genus Priapulopsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]