Desmoscolex Claparède, 1863

García-Cobo, Marta, González-Casarrubios, Alberto & Sánchez, Nuria, 2025, Description of two new species of Desmoscolex Claparède, 1863 (Nematoda: Desmoscolecidae) from the Cassidaigne Canyon, Mediterranean Sea, European Journal of Taxonomy 1004, pp. 211-236 : 218

Subgenus Desmoscolex Claparède, 1863

Diagnosis (emended from Decraemer 1983)

Presence of desmen along entire body in the adult stage. The majority of the species (74) have seventeen main rings surrounding the annulated cuticle, nine species have eighteen main rings, 3 have less than seventeen main rings and 13 species have more than eighteen main rings. Rings rounded or quadricomoid. In the quadricomoid form, anterior rings slope backward, posterior rings slope forward, with no abrupt change in slope direction.

Remarks

The present work raises the count of species of Desmoscoles ( Desmoscolex ) to 106 (see Table 1 ). Additionally, Desmoscolex noctuabundus Bussau, 1993 is proposed to be synonymized as Desmoscolex (Protricomoides) noctuabundus . According to Bussau (1993), the species exhibit incomplete main rings immediately after the cephalic region, followed by a bare cuticle, and ending with incomplete main rings extending from the anal region to the posterior end of the body. This pattern aligns with the description of the subgenus Desmoscolex (Protricomoides) Timm, 1970 . It is worth noting that the use of the subgenus is optional, and both forms, with or without the subgenus, are valid as synonyms according to the ICZN code (1999). Table 1 provides an updated list of valid species of the genus Desmoscolex , along with their corresponding synonyms based on the original description of both the subgenus and the species. Species marked with * in the table are synonymized within the corresponding subgenus for the first time in this study.