Echinoderes pterus sp. n. showing a geographically and bathymetrically wide distribution pattern on seamounts and on the deep-sea floor in the Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea (Kinorhyncha, Cyclorhagida)

Kinorhynchs rarely show a wide distribution pattern, due to their putatively low dispersal capabilities and/or limited sampling efforts. In this study, a new kinorhynch species is described, Echinoderes pterus sp. n., which shows a geographically and bathymetrically wide distribution, occurring on t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ZooKeys
Main Authors: Yamasaki, Hiroshi, Grzelak, Katarzyna, Sørensen, Martin V., Neuhaus, Birger, George, Kai Horst
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Pensoft Publishers 2018
Subjects:
Animalia
Cephalorhyncha
Kinorhyncha
Cyclorhagida
Echinoderidae
Echinoderes
Cephalornis
meiofauna
meiofauna paradox
morphological variation
taxonomy
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Svalbard
Northeast Atlantic
Online Access:https://zenodo.org/record/1311288
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.771.25534
Description
Summary:Kinorhynchs rarely show a wide distribution pattern, due to their putatively low dispersal capabilities and/or limited sampling efforts. In this study, a new kinorhynch species is described, Echinoderes pterus sp. n., which shows a geographically and bathymetrically wide distribution, occurring on the Karasik Seamount and off the Svalbard Islands (Arctic Ocean), on the Sedlo Seamount (northeast Atlantic Ocean), and on the deep-sea floor off Crete and on the Anaximenes Seamount (Mediterranean Sea), at a depth range of 675–4,403 m. The new species is characterized by a combination of middorsal acicular spines on segments 4–8, laterodorsal tubes on segment 10, lateroventral tubes on segment 5, lateroventral acicular spines on segments 6–9, tufts of long hairs rising from slits in a laterodorsal position on segment 9, truncated tergal extensions on segment 11, and the absence of any type-2 gland cell outlet. The specimens belonging to the populations from the Arctic Ocean, the Sedlo Seamount, and the Mediterranean Sea show morphological variation in the thickness and length of the spines as well as in the presence/absence of ventromedial sensory spots on segment 7. The different populations are regarded as belonging to a single species because of their overlapping variable characters.

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