Search

The hoplonemertean genera Prosadenoporus Burger, 1890 and Pantinonemertes Moore and Gibson, 1981 are revised and synonymized based on a morphological re‐evaluation. We redefine Prosadenoporus Burger, 1890 on the basis of characters held in common by the eight species: Prosadenoporus agricola (Willemoes‐Suhm, 1874) comb. nov., Prosadenoporus arenarius Burger, 1890, Prosadenoporus spectaculum (Yamaoka, 1940) comb. nov., Prosadenoporus winsori (Moore and Gibson, 1981) comb. nov., Prosadenoporus enalios (Moore and Gibson, 1981) comb. nov., Prosadenoporus mooreae (Gibson, 1982b) comb. nov., Prosadenoporus mortoni (Gibson, 1990) comb. nov. and Prosadenoporus fujianensis (Sun, 2001) comb. nov. We describe a new semi‐terrestrial species Prosadenoporus floridensis sp. nov. from Belize and Florida and compare its morphology to other species of Prosadenoporus. The average sequence divergence of P. floridensis sp. nov. from other congeners is 9.15% (16S) and 10.65% (COI) and 7.8% and 10.3% respectively from the neare...

A new species of Prosorhochmus is described from Belize and Florida based on morphological, reproductive and sequence data. Similar to Prosorhochmus nelsoni (Sanchez, 1973), Prosorhochmus belizeanus sp. nov. is gonochoric and oviparous; all other species of Prosorhochmus are viviparous hermaphrodites. Prosorhochmus belizeanus sp. nov. differs from P. nelsoni by having significantly larger stylets and different arrangement of acidophilic cephalic glands. Sequence divergence between the two is 7.4% (16S) and 9.1% (COI), comparable to divergence from the viviparous hermaphroditic species. Prosorhochmus Keferstein, 1862 is revised based on re‐evaluation of the type and voucher material as well as fresh specimens collected by us. We conclude that Prosorhochmus adriaticus Senz, 1993 is insufficiently described and cannot be distinguished from Prosorhochmus claparedii Keferstein, 1862. We re‐establish Prosorhochmus korotneffi Burger, 1895 from its previous synonymization with P. claparedii and designate it as ty...

Two species of land nemertines have been reported from Rodrigues. The first, Geonemertes rodericana, was discovered by Gulliver in 1874 at which time extensive searches revealed no other species on the island; in 1993 two of the present authors visited Rodrigues and could find only G. pelaensis, a species which is widespread on other Indopacific islands including Rkunion, a new locality reported in the present paper. Histological re-examination of G. rodericana shows that, while the two species are closely related, both being correctly placed in the genus Geonernertes (Prosorhochmidae), they differ not only in colour but also in internal features; for example, G. pelaensis is hermaphroditic while G. rodericana is dioecious. A full description of G. rodericana is given here for the first time. Geonemertes rodericana has only been recorded from the island of Rodrigues and is now feared to be extinct.

Maslakova, Svetlana A., Norenburg, Jon L. (2008): Revision of the smiling worms, genera Prosadenoporus Bürger, 1890 and Pantinonemertes Moore and Gibson, 1981 and description of a new species Prosadenoporus floridensis sp. nov. (Prosorhochmidae; Hoplonemertea; Nemertea) from Florida and Belize. Journal of Natural History 42 (25-26): 1689-1727, DOI: 10.1080/00222930802130286, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222930802130286

Maslakova, Svetlana A., Norenburg, Jon L. (2008): Revision of the smiling worms, genus Prosorhochmus Keferstein, 1862, and description of a new species, Prosorhochmus belizeanus sp. nov. (Prosorhochmidae, Hoplonemertea, Nemertea) from Florida and Belize. Journal of Natural History 42 (17-18): 1219-1260, DOI: 10.1080/00222930801995747, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222930801995747

Records of terrestrial planarians and nemertines found on Bermuda are summarized. Three new species of terrestrial planarian are described though they certainly originated elsewhere. These are Amaga expatria n. sp., Gigantea gouvernoni n. sp. (both Geoplanidae and originating from South or Central America) and Bipalium vagum n. sp. (Bipaliidae, probably originating from Asia). Records of other planarians (Bipalium kewense, Anisorhynchodemus sp., Dolichoplana striata and Rhynchodemus sylvaticus) as well as nemertines (Pantinonemertes agricola and Geonemertes pelaensis) are discussed with regard to origin, distribution and mode of dispersal.

Three new species of monostiliferous hoplonemerteans from the Great Barrier Reef province of Australia are described and illustrated. These are, with their families indicated in parentheses, Poseidonemertes bothwellae sp. nov. (Amphiporidae), Nemertes hermaphroditicus sp. nov. (Emplectonematidae) and Pantinonemertes mooreae sp. nov. (Prosorhochmidae).

Oerstedia striata sp.n. (family Prosorhochmidae?) is described. The species was originally reported as one of the varieties of the polymorphic species Oerstedia dorsalis (Abildgaard, 1806). Its specific status was detected by an electrophoretic screening of six enzymes, of which four were unique for this species as compared to the analysed forms of O. dorsalis.

Summary A new freshwater hoplonemertean from Campbell Island, to the south of New Zealand, i s described and named Campbellonemertes jolinsi gen. et sp. nov. The morphology of this tiemertean relates it with the family Prosorhochmidae and the occurrence of this form, the second freshwater prosorhochmid genus from the Antipodes, strongly supports an earlier hypothesis on the evolution of freshwater hoplonemerteans.

The monostiliferous nemertean Oerstedia dorsalis was collected from eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds located along the coast of New Jersey, and feeding responses to amphipods and isopods were observed in the laboratory. Tests with 46 worms showed that they fed suctorially on Ampelisca vadorum, Ampithoe longimana, Corophium acherusicum and C tuberculata. Corophiids were preferred. Upon contact with an amphipod, the proboscis is everted and strikes the prey on the ventral side, immobilizing it in a few minutes. The worm probes the sternal region with its head and everts its proboscis one or more times during the process. The exoskeleton is eventually penetrated by the head, and the stomach is everted into the hemocoel as a flattened funnel-like structure. Peristaltic undulations of the body signify the suctorial action that removes the living contents from the exoskeleton. The actual feeding process (from head penetration to removal of the head) takes about 7 min. O. dorsalis is only the third species within the Prosorhochmidae for which the feeding behavior has been documented. The other two are terrestrial species, and are also suctorial.

A diagnosis of the monostiliferous hoplonemertean genus Prosadenoporus is provided and the type-species, P. arenarius, is redescribed and illustrated from Malaysian material; this identification is related to Burger’s (1890) original description. The remaining four species can on present evidence neither be accepted as valid taxa nor regarded with certainty as synonymous with P. arenarius; they are accordingly designated as nomina dubia. A comparison between Prosadenoporus, Prosorhochmus and the group I genera of terrestrial nemerteans (Geonemertes, Pantinonemertes) indicates that they belong in the same family, Prosorhochmidae, and a definition of this family is given.