First description of deepsea polyclad flatworms from the North Pacific: Anocellidus n. gen. profundus n. sp. (Anocellidae, n. fam.) and Oligocladus voightae n. sp. (Euryleptidae)
Author
Quiroga, Sigmer Y.
Author
Bolaños, D. Marcela
Author
Litvaitis, Marian K.
text
Zootaxa
2006
1317
1
19
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.173981
518e12ee-8606-468f-8535-9fa03089ab72
11755326
173981
Family:
Anocellidae
n. fam.
Definition
: Ilyplanoidea without eyes. Ruffled pharynx located anteriorly; long, pointed tentacles present. Gonopores separate and male copulatory apparatus positioned posterior to male pore, hence directed forwards; armed with a long and pointed stylet directed backwards. Prostaticlike glands (prostatoid organs,
sensu
Faubel 1983
) absent. Spermiducal bulbs present instead of a true seminal vesicle. Female apparatus with Lang’s vesicle. A ventral disk of potentially sensory function, positioned anterior to the cerebral ganglion; this organ is not homologous with the cotylean sucker.
Taxonomic remarks regarding the new family:
According to
Faubel (1983)
, the absence of a true prostatic vesicle is the taxonomic character defining the superfamily Ilyplanoidea which includes the families
Enantiidae Graff 1889
,
Discocelidae Laidlaw 1903
,
Discoprosthididae
,
Euplanidae
,
Ilyplanidae
,
Mucroplanidae
and Paluidae (the last five all by
Faubel 1983
). The ruffled pharynx and a male tract without a trace of prostaticlike glands or a prostatic vesicle would place this new species into the genus
Aprostatum
,
within the
Euplanidae
. This family is defined by a ruffled, centrally located pharynx, a posteriorlydircted male copulatory apparatus, separate gonopores, and a complete lack of prostaticlike glands (
Faubel 1983
). Although these characters conform to those found in our new species, an additional character found in our specimens warrants the establishment of the new family
Anocellidae
.
The defining character of the
Anocellidae
is that the male copulatory apparatus is located posterior to the male gonopore and is directed anteriorly. This is exactly opposite of the condition found in the
Euplanidae
, where the male copulatory complex is located anterior to the male gonopore and directed posteriorly (
Table 1
). Using a single character as a basis for a new family without a complete reanalysis of acotylean classification may appear precipitous, however, “orientation of male copulatory apparatus” weighs heavily in the classification system of acotyleans and has previously been used in defining families (
Faubel 1983
). In fact,
Lang (1884)
used it as the main character to establish the
Cestoplanidae
, a group in which the male copulatory apparatus is located posterior to the male gonopore and is directed anteriorly. Other morphological differences however eliminate placement of the new species in the
Cestoplanidae
(
Table 1
), thus justifying the establishment of the family
Anocellidae
.