Seven new species of Tetranemertes Chernyshev, 1992 (Monostilifera, Hoplonemertea, Nemertea) from the Caribbean Sea, western Pacific, and Arabian Sea, and revision of the genus
Author
Cherneva, Irina
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5533-6527
Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
Author
Ellison, Christina I.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1856-386X
Oregon Institute of Marine Biology and Biology Department, University of Oregon, Charleston, OR, USA
Author
Zattara, Eduardo E.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9947-9036
Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medio Ambiente, Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnologicas, Bariloche, Argentina & Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
Author
Norenburg, Jon L.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7776-1527
Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
Author
Schwartz, Megan L.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5318-2838
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington, Tacoma, WA, USA
Author
Junoy, Juan
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6125-558X
Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain
Author
Maslakova, Svetlana A.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3629-6638
Oregon Institute of Marine Biology and Biology Department, University of Oregon, Charleston, OR, USA
svetlana@uoregon.edu
text
ZooKeys
2023
2023-10-05
1181
167
200
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1181.109521
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1181.109521
1313-2970-1181-167
E38531F280734B9EA3ECE05D03865AF5
7284D377F64253E0AF69CFBDBF89912A
Tetranemertes ocelata
sp. nov.
Fig. 8
Diagnosis.
Tetranemertes ocelata
sp. nov. differs from most other species of the genus by uniformly pinkish orange body color without distinct markings. It most resembles
T. pastafariensis
sp. nov., from which it differs by having much larger ocelli, and more intense color (pinkish orange as opposed to pale yellow). It differs from
T. paulayi
sp. nov. by having larger eyes, paler body color, and colorless blood. DNA sequences also clearly differentiate this species from all other sequenced species of the genus (Table
5
).
Material examined.
Type material in the form of histological sections is deposited with the
Smithsonian
Institution's
National Museum of Natural History
:
holotype
685_061202_2 (USNM1156296),
paratype
685_061202_4 (USNM 1156298). See Table
1
for
additional specimens
, accession numbers, and Table
2
for collecting information
.
Description.
External appearance of live specimens
.
Body long and thin, thread-like, tangles easily, up to 12 cm long at rest, but can stretch up to 50 cm. Body width varies from 0.1 mm posteriorly to 0.7 mm in the head region. Head dorso-ventrally flattened; the rest of the body cylindrical in cross-section. Most of the time the worm remains loosely and irregularly tangled and coiled. The head contracts linearly when disturbed. Background color from very pale yellow to salmon color or deep pinkish orange (Fig.
8A
). The epidermis appears pale and translucent to transparent, the deepest color associated with the gut. Small specks of darker orange or pale brown pigment scattered throughout the epidermis, others associated with the central nervous system.
Figure 8.
Tetranemertes ocelata
sp. nov.
A
external appearance in life
B
proboscis armature showing bilobed basis and sculpted stylets
C
head compressed under coverslip to show number and arrangement of eyes, cerebral organs and cerebral ganglia
D
head in ventro-lateral view showing eyes and the cephalic furrow (arrowhead). Abbreviations: cg - cerebral ganglion, co - cerebral organ. Scale bars: 1 mm (
A
); 50
μm
(
B
); 0.2 mm (
C, D
).
Head slightly wider than adjacent body, triangular or spear-shaped, reminiscent of the shape of a
snake's
head. Anterior tip of head bluntly rounded. Head demarcated from the body by a single shallow ventro-lateral cephalic furrow, formed by a pair of cerebral organ furrows meeting mid-ventrally, and creating an anteriorly directed
"V"
(Fig.
8D
). Posterior cephalic furrow is lacking. Mouth and rhynchopore are combined into a single anterior ventral rhynchostomopore. The head is widest at the level of the cephalic furrow.
Ocelli are proportionally much larger than in other species of the genus, resemble those of cratenemertids and reptant polystiliferans, reddish brown in color, arranged in four rows (two on each side of head, almost directly on top of each other). Eyes of the more lateral/ventral rows are larger than the eyes in the medial/dorsal rows (Fig.
8C, D
).
Cerebral ganglia large, translucent, with specks of pinkish pigment, and very wide commissures. Cerebral organs anterior to the cerebral ganglia, visible on squeeze preparations of the head (Fig.
8C
).
Rhynchocoel and proboscis
.
Length of rhynchocoel unknown. Proboscis very short (a few mm long), restricted to the anterior-most part of body. Basis of central stylet long and cylindrical, variably rounded or slightly bilobed posteriorly. Shaft of central stylet straight, sculpted with weakly spiraling groves. Two accessory stylet pouches, each with two accessory stylets (Fig.
8B
).
Reproduction
.
Reproductive specimens collected at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize in June 2002.
Habitat.
Subtidal coral and shell rubble (with significant quantity of orange sponge) at the depth of 20-71 m depth.
Geographic distribution.
Caribbean Sea (Belize) and the Gulf of Mexico.
Etymology.
Specific epithet refers to the size of the ocelli, which are larger than in the other described species of this genus.