Abstract
The currently known diversity of horsehair worms (Nematomorpha) from India is only 17 species. We report here two female specimens found on two occasions on a terrace paddy field in Tsupo, Viswema, Kohima, Nagaland, India. Although found at the same location, both species differ in their cuticular structures. One is determined as Chordodes moutoni, a species known from China, Malaysia and India. The other specimen shows a new type of cuticular structure, the areoles, which combines characters of both simple areoles and tubercle areoles. This specimen is described as a new species, C. combiareolatus. Both specimens show arrangements on the cuticle, in which a circle of areoles surrounds a region of “naked” cuticle. We interpret these regions as artifacts caused by the breaking off of the central crowned areoles, leaving only the circumcluster areoles behind.