Records of horsehair worms (nematomorpha) in Estonia, with description of three new species from the genus Gordius L.

Abstract

Except for one record, no species of horsehair worms (Nematomorpha) have been recorded from Estonia. We report here the finding of 35 specimens, 14 of them determined as Gordionus violaceus (Baird, 1853), a widespread European species. Three new species are described. These are Gordius balticus sp. nov. with an angled postcloacal crescent and fine stout bristles on the cuticular surface, Gordius spiridonovi sp. nov. with a row of bristles extending from the posterior tips of the postcloacal crescent onto the tail lobes, and Gordius terminosetosus sp. nov. with longer bristles on the posterior tips of the tail lobes. Additionally, some specimens of the genus Gordius L. with a particular fine structure of the superficially smooth cuticle are reported, but these could not be determined to species level.