Description of Cervidellus hueckeswagensis sp. nov. and Stegelleta waltrautae sp. nov. (Nematoda: Rhabditida: Cephalobidae) from the Atacama Desert in Chile
Abstract
Despite being the driest desert on earth, some areas of the Atacama receive precipitation and harbour a diverse fauna and flora. Two new nematode species are described from the more humid regions of the Atacama Desert. Cervidellus hueckeswagensis sp. nov. was discovered in several high-altitude locations along the west slopes of the Andes. It is most similar to C. caucetensis and C. vinciguerrae in the shape of the labial probolae and to C. bifidihastatus, C. hamatus, C. doorsselaeri and C. capraeolus in the shape of the cephalic probolae, being uniquely characterised by having asymmetrically triangular lips with 6–7 tines and bifurcated labial probolae without additional tines or swellings. Stegelleta waltrautae sp. nov. was found in the coastal sand dunes. It is most similar to S. tuarua in having a large number of longitudinal lines and lateral alae with five incisures but differing in the shape of the cephalic probolae and distinctly protruding vulva.
References
Abolafia J., Holovachov O., Boström S. & Peña-Santiago R. 2004. Nematodes of the order Rhabditida from Andalucía Oriental, Spain. The genus Cervidellus Thorne, 1937 (Cephalobidae) with additional data on C. hamatus Thorne, 1937. Nematology 5: 753–776. https://doi.org/10.1163/156854103322746931
Adams B.J., Wall D.H., Gozel U., Dillman A.R., Chaston J.M. & Hogg I.D. 2007. The southernmost worm, Scottnema lindsayae (Nematoda): diversity, dispersal and ecological stability. Polar Biology 30: 809–815. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-006-0241-3
Aguilera L.E., Gutiérrez J.R. & Meserve P.L. 1999. Variation in soil micro-organisms and nutrients underneath and outside the canopy of Adesmia bedwellii (Papilionaceae) shrubs in arid coastal Chile following drought and above average rainfall. Journal of Arid Environments 42 (1): 61–70. https://doi.org/10.1006/jare.1999.0503
Bellusci A., Maldonado A., Eugenia de Porras M. & Beltrame M.O. 2025. Gastrointestinal parasites in rodent middens across the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Journal of Arid Environments 227: e105329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2025.105329
Caro-Valenzuela J. 2024. Genomic Analysis of Dispersal Patterns in Free-Living Soil Nematodes from Hyper-Arid Environments. Master thesis. University of Cologne, Germany.
Clausi M. 1998. Cervidellus vinciguerrae sp. nov. (Nematoda: Cephalobidae) from Tierra del Fuego and notes on the genus Cervidellus Thorne, 1937. Fundamental and Applied Nematology 21: 273–279.
De Ley I.T., De Ley P., Baldwin J.G., Mundo-Ocampo M. & Nadler S.A. 1999. Three new species of Nothacrobeles (Nemata: Cephalobidae) from the Mojave Desert, California. Journal of Nematology 31: 482–497.
Dunai T.J., López G.A.G. & Juez-Larré J. 2005. Oligocene-Miocene age of aridity in the Atacama Desert revealed by exposure dating of erosion-sensitive landforms. Geology 33: 321–324. https://doi.org/10.1130/G21184.1
Edgington S., Buddie A.G., Moore D., France A., Merino L. & Hunt D.J. 2011. Heterorhabditis atacamensis n. sp. (Nematoda: Heterorhabditidae), a new entomopathogenic nematode from the Atacama Desert, Chile. Journal of Helminthology 85 (4): 381–394. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022149X10000702
Ferris H. 2010. Contribution of nematodes to the structure and function of the soil food web. Journal of Nematology 42: 63–67.
Gadea E. 1960. Nota sobre Nematodos muscicolas de Atacama (Chile). Miscelánea Zoológica 1–5: 5–13.
Holovachov O., Tandingan De Ley I., Mundo-Ocampo M. & De Ley P. 2009. Identification of Cephaloboidea (Nematoda). EUMAINE, Gent and Nematology, UC Riverside.
Houston J. & Hartley A.J. 2003. The central Andean west-slope rainshadow and its potential contribution to the origin of hyper-aridity in the Atacama Desert. International Journal of Climatology 23 (12): 1453–1464. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.938
Jimenez Roco M. 1974. Contribución al conocimiento de los Nemátodos del departamento de Arica. Colección de Nemátodos Fitófagos. (Tercera parte). Idesia 3: 9–26.
Jimenez Roco M. 1979. Nemátodos fitófagos de Isluga, provincial de Iquique, I Región (1a. contribution). Idesia 5: 33–39.
Pen-Mouratov S., Barness G. & Steinberger Y. 2008. Effect of desert plant ecophysiological adaptation on soil nematode communities. European Journal of Soil Biology 44 (3): 298–308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2008.03.005
Ragsdale E.J., Mundo-Ocampo M., Bumbarger D.J. & Baldwin J.G. 2011. Cervidellus sonorensis n. sp. (Nematoda: Cephalobidae) from the desert of Anza-Borrego, CA, USA. Nematology 13 (5): 607–617. https://doi.org/10.1163/138855410X533653
Stewart A.C. & Nicholas W.L. 1989. Experiments on anhydrobiosis in Acrobeloides nanus (de Man, 1880) Anderson, 1986. (Nematoda). Nematologica 35: 489–491. https://doi.org/10.1163/002825989x00232
Thorne G. 1937. A revision of the nematode family Cephalobidae Chitwood and Chitwood, 1934. Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington 4: 1–16.
Uma G., Babu M.M., Prakash V.S.G., Nisha S.J. & Citarasu T. 2020. Nature and bioprospecting of haloalkaliphilics: a review. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 36 (5): 66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-020-02841-2
Vandegehuchte M.L., Sylvain Z.A., Reichmann L.G., De Tomasel C.M., Nielsen U.N, Wall D.H. & Sala O.E. 2015. Responses of a desert nematode community to changes in water availability. 2015. Ecosphere 6 (3): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1890/ES14-00319.1
Villegas L.I., Pettrich L.C., Acevedo-Trejos E., Suwanngam A., Wassey N., Allende M.L., Stoll A., Holovachov O., Waldvogel A.M. & Schiffer P.H. 2025. Hierarchical patterns of soil nematode biodiversity in the Atacama Desert: insights across biological scales. bioRxiv e2024.09.30.615889. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.30.615889
Yeates G.W. 1967. Studies on nematodes from dune sands. 5. Acrobelinae. New Zealand Journal of Science 10: 527–547.
Copyright (c) 2025 Niclas Mach, Laura Pettrich, Laura Villegas, Ann-Marie Waldvogel, Philipp H. Schiffer, Oleksandr Holovachov
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons Copyright Notices
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are NOT PERMITTED to post their submitted work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on personal websites) prior to publication, as it may lead to nomenclatural issues.
