Systematics of the Sheath Nematodes of the Superfamily Hemicycliophoroidea

The sheath nematodes belonging to the superfamily Hemicycliophoroidea are unique amongst all plant parasitic nematodes known to man due to the presence of an extra cuticular covering or sheath over the inner cuticle and body of all juvenile and adult life stages. These plant-parasitic nematodes include species of agricultural and quarantine importance.
In Systematics of the Sheath Nematodes of the Superfamily Hemicycliophoroidea John Chitambar and Sergei Subbotin provide a detailed review of the taxonomy and diagnosis of the superfamily, its member genera and 153 related species based on their morphological and molecular analyses, as well as a further understanding of the relationships within the superfamily using molecular phylogenetics. In addition, Chitambar and Subbotin also give detailed information on the global distribution, biology, host-parasite relationships and ecology of sheath nematodes.

John J. Chitambar, Ph. D. (1983) in Plant Pathology (Nematology), University of California, Davis, California, USA, is presently serving as Senior Plant Nematologist and Primary State Nematologist at the California Department of Food and Agriculture, USA. He has addressed several nematological issues in government documentations as well as published many articles in nematological and science journals.

Sergei A. Subbotin, Ph.D. (1987) in Helminthology (Nematology), Institute of Helminthology, Russia, is presently serving as Senior Nematologist at the California Department of Food and Agriculture, USA, and has associate positions as Guest Professor at Ghent University, Belgium, and as Scientist at University of California, USA and Center of Parasitology, Russia. He has published more than 100 articles in nematological and molecular journals.

I would warmly recommend this handy compendium for the nematode taxonomist studying the biodiversity of plant-parasitic nematodes. As I know from experience with my Master and PhD students, there is a real need for such monographs that compile the information of all species and provide identification keys.
Wilfrida Decraemer
Nematology News, 2015, Volume 76, No. 1


"The [book] is excellent! Not only are all the species well treated but the vast literature containing remarks and measurements about well known species is also included. [...] I sincerely hope that other nematologists [...] will start writing such books as several (super)families still need to be examined. They can use this book by Chitambar and Subbotin as a good example."
Etienne Geraert, Ghent University, in: Nematology, 2014, vol. 16 (10), 1241

"The authors must be congratulated for their immense hard work in doing a wonderful job of compiling and analyzing all the information on sheath nematodes and putting them at one place in this book for easy access for all the researchers interested in nematode taxonomy and systematics. Not only that, the authors worked hard to incorporate the molecular taxonomic data wherever available." - Sudershan Ganguly and Vishal Singh Somvanshi, Indian Agricultural Research Institute