Revision of Phaenocora Ehrenberg, 1836 (Rhabditophora, Typhloplanidae, Phaenocorinae) with the description of two new species
Author
Houben, Albrecht M.
Author
Steenkiste, Niels Van
Author
Artois, Tom J.
text
Zootaxa
2014
3889
3
301
354
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3889.3.1
6de20ad0-680f-4c37-b292-09c548463faa
1175-5326
224901
67896601-F3C6-44F2-A237-78120C8EA5DB
Phaenocora clavigera
Hofsten, 1907
(Figs 14C1–C2)
Derostoma coecum
partim
Fuhrmann 1894
only Fig. 53 with certainty.
Phaenocora clavigera
Hofsten 1907
: 550
–551, table 15 Fig. 17–18;
Hofsten 1911
: 3
, 8, 10, 32, 37–46, TextFigs 9–10, plate 2
Figs 1–3
,
5–6
;
Hofsten 1912
: 551
, 557, 564, 582, 628, 678;
Meixner 1915
: 536
;
Luther 1921
: 18
, 29, 36, 38;
Beklemischev 1929
: 536
, 551;
Graff 1913
: 134
, 142–145, Figs 135, 145, 146;
Gilbert 1935
: 284
, 293–294, 296, 299–300, 318, 327, 329, 341, 346–347, 355, 359, 363, 364, TextFigs 3Ka, 3Kb, table 1, 2;
Beauchamp 1936
: 149
;
Gilbert 1937
: 67
;
Weise 1942
: 145
;
Marcus 1946
: 72
, 81, 166;
Luther 1963
: 133
;
Kolasa 1973
: 238
, 241, 244, Figs 11A, B, C, 13;
Müller & Faubel 1993
: table 1.
Phoenocora clavigera
(incorrect subsequent spelling) Cognetti de Martiis 1916: 193, 224, 227.
Phaenocora coecum
(=
P. clavigera
)
Gilbert 1935
: 329
.
Phaenocora stagnalis
(=
P. clavigera
)
Gilbert 1935
: 293
, 300, 327.
Phaenocora typhlops subsalina
Luther 1921
: 4
, 29, 31–38, TextFigs 15–23, plate 1 Fig. 13;
Gilbert 1935
: 285
, 302, 304, 314, 341–342, 348, 365, table 1, 2;
Marcus 1946
: 72
.
Phaenocora subsalina
Beklemischev 1929
: 551
;
Luther 1963
: 127
, 132, Fig. 44;
Karling 1974
: 50
, 64, 80, Figs 109–111, table 1;
Ax 2008
: 411
, Fig. 192D–F.
Known distribution:
Münchenstein near Basel (
Switzerland
) (
Fuhrmann 1894
); lake Brienz near Kienholz (
Switzerland
) in mud from the bottom (
Hofsten 1907
); lake Brienz and lake Geneva (
Switzerland
) and
Denmark
? (see
Hofsten 1912
for localities and references;
Graff 1913
); vicinity of Berlin (
Germany
) (
Weise 1942
); in the vicinity of Hamburg (
Germany
); along the Elbe estuary (see
Müller & Faubel 1993
for localities and references). Bay belonging to the island Brännskär, Zoological Station Tvärminne (
Finland
) (
Luther 1921
), Thuringia (
Germany
) in saline waters (see
Ax 2008
for references).
Material examined:
None.
Diagnosis:
Animals up to 3.5 mm long. Visible eyes absent. Zoochlorellae not mentioned in literature. Amount of body pigmentation variable, sometimes absent. If present situated anteriorly to the pharynx and often as three longitudinal stripes.
Male
copulatory organ of the duplex-type IIIB. Dorsal side of penis papilla with three large spines, ventral side of penis papilla with four longitudinal rows of five slightly-bent spines placed at the same level, hence also forming five transverse rows. Female genital system is of the
EVELINAE
-
type
, with a long bursointestinal duct, an intestinal bursa and a female genital canal. With a glandular papilla connected to the inferior genital atrium.
Remarks:
Also see remarks on
P. gracilis
.
The known distribution given above is partitioned into two paragraphs, the first one is of the animals originally described as
P. clavigera
(Fig. 14C2) and the second is of the animals originally described as
P. subsalina
(Fig. 14C1). Because of the great morphological similarity between these two taxa,
Kolasa (1973)
, although hesitatingly, claimed that
P. clavigera
and
P. subsalina
in fact refer to one species, a view we have adopted here. If, in future research, new data become available showing that indeed two species are involved, it will remain clear which species occurs in which localities.
The description of the orientation of the cirrus spines is entirely based on specimens originally assigned to
P. clavigera
(see
Hofsten 1907
). According to several authors studying the cirrus of
P. subsalina
, no specimens were observed with an evaginated cirrus (
Luther 1963
;
Ax 2008
).
Two serially-sectioned specimens of the Swedish Museum of Natural History (SMNH nos 92991–92992) cannot be unambiguously assigned to this species. The specimen SMNH no. 92992 undoubtedly has a copulatory organ of the duplex-type IIIB and a female system of the
EVELINAE
-
type
. Unfortunately, it is not entirely clear whether a glandular papilla surrounded by muscles is present, a character typical of
P. clavigera
. Slide no. 92991 is labelled “
Phaenocora typhlops
/
subsalina
”
, but we did not observe any spines on the copulatory organ. It was collected on the same day (
10/7/1935
) at Blidö, Almvik,
Sweden
(see slides) by the same person who collected the specimen on slide SMNH no. 92992, and therefore most probably belongs to the same species. Since both slides can not ensure species recognition, we refrain from designating a
neotype
for this species.