The subfamily Belonolaiminae was redefined by Siddiqi (1970) and Golden (1971), both independently establishing Belonolaimidae. Both included Belonolaimus Steiner and Morulaimus Sauer in the subfamily, but Carphodorus Colbran, included by Golden, was assigned to the Telotylenchinae by Siddiqi. Andrassy (1976) synonymised Carphodorus with Belonolaimus, without giving reasons. Monteiro and Lordello (1977) added a new genus, Ibipora, which they differentiated from Belonolaimus by the number of lateral lines, transferring B. lineatus Roman to Ibipora. No detailed description of the lip region of Carphodorus has been published. The structure of the feeding apparatus in this group is obscure. Apart from the observations of Seinhorst (1971 a), there is little information about the disposition of the oesophageal glands. We have undertaken a comparative morphological study of some of the features of the subfamily.
