Antarctic associations: the parasitic relationship between the gastropod Bathycrinicola tumidula (Thiele, 1912) (Ptenoglossa: Eulimidae) and the comatulid Notocrinus virilis Mortensen, 1917 (Crinoidea: Notocrinidae) in the Ross Sea

The Wrst case of parasitic association between an eulimid mollusc (Gastropoda, Ptenoglossa) and a comatulid (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) is reported for Antarctica. The mollusc involved in the association is Eulima tumidula Thiele, 1912, which has now been ascribed to the genus Bathycrinicola Bouchet...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Biology
Main Authors: SCHIAPARELLI, STEFANO, CHIANTORE, MARIACHIARA, ALBERTELLI, GIANCARLO, CATTANEO VIETTI, RICCARDO, GHIRARDO C., BOHN J.
Other Authors: Schiaparelli, Stefano, Ghirardo, C., Bohn, J., Chiantore, Mariachiara, Albertelli, Giancarlo, CATTANEO VIETTI, Riccardo
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2007
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11567/246726
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0315-x
Description
Summary:The Wrst case of parasitic association between an eulimid mollusc (Gastropoda, Ptenoglossa) and a comatulid (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) is reported for Antarctica. The mollusc involved in the association is Eulima tumidula Thiele, 1912, which has now been ascribed to the genus Bathycrinicola Bouchet & Warén, 1986, never recognized before in Antarctica. This genus is present only in the NE Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and encompass species which are speciWc parasites of the sessile stalked crinoids of the family Bathycrinidae. However, in Antarctica, Bathycrinicola tumidula (Thiele, 1912) exploits the endemic vagile comatulid Notocrinus virilis Mortensen, 1917, and attains the largest known dimensions (»1 cm) for a Bathycrinicola species. The absence of suitable Bathycrinidae host in modern Antarctic benthic assemblages, as well as the long paleontological history of the genus Notocrinus in Antarctica, suggest a possible ‘hostswitch’ phenomenon. This event could reasonably have occurred when many species underwent considerable bathymetric shifts, during the dramatic climatic changes that aVected Antarctica.