Description of Pheronous jairajpurii sp. nov. (Enoplida: Ironidae) a free-living marine nematode from Tamil Nadu Coast (India) with emended diagnosis of Pheronous Inglis, 1966

A new species of free-living marine nematode, Pheronous jairajpurii sp. nov. belonging to the family Ironidae collected from an intertidal sandy beach of Tamil Nadu, India, is described and illustrated. The genus Pheronous until now had two species, Pheronous ogdeni Inglis, 1966 and P. donghaiensis Chen & Guo, 2015. The new species resembles P. ogdeni in the number and shape of precloacal papillae and differs in the shape of spicules and gubernaculum, number and arrangement of postcloacal papillae, while it resembles P. donghaiensis in the shape and size of spicules and gubernaculum, however differs in the cuticle ornamentation, number and arrangement of pre and postcloacal papillae.

An emended diagnosis of the genus Pheronous along with identification key is provided.