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

Abstract

The hoplonemertean genera Prosadenoporus Bürger, 1890 and Pantinonemertes Moore and Gibson, 1981 are revised and synonymized based on a morphological re‐evaluation. We redefine Prosadenoporus Bürger, 1890 on the basis of characters held in common by the eight species: Prosadenoporus agricola (Willemoes‐Suhm, 1874) comb. nov., Prosadenoporus arenarius Bürger, 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 nearest sequenced congener P. mortoni.

Keywords:

• nemertea
• Prosadenoporus
• Pantinonemertes
• Prosorhochmidae
• semi‐terrestrial

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Barbara Littman (National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA) for assistance in preparation of histological slides, Lee Weigt, Ken Shallop, Ken Wurdack, Jeff Bates and other researchers and staff at the Laboratory of Analytical Biology (Smithsonian Institution) for help with molecular work. Unpublished data, photomicrographs, sketches and specimens were kindly provided by Frank Crandall (NMNH, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA) and Shichun Sun (College of Fisheries, University of Quingdao, China). Many curators, collection managers and other biologists worldwide assisted with loans and field‐work. The authors are especially grateful to Michael Akam, Ray Symonds and Janet Moore (University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, UK), Sheila Halsey (Museum of Natural History, London, UK), Shichun Sun (College of Fisheries, University of Quingdao, China), staff of the Western Australian Museum (Perth, Australia), staff of the Australian Museum (Sydney, Australia) and staff of the Museum of Tropical Queensland (Townsville, Australia). SAM especially thanks Michael Akam, Janet Moore and Cassandra Extavour for their hospitality and assistance during her visit to the University Museum of Zoology in Cambridge, UK. The field‐work in Australia was made possible by the generous help of Leigh Winsor, late Peter Arnold, Carden Wallace, Gilianne Brodie, Estelle Davies, Mark O'Callaghan and the staff of the Orpheus Island Research Station. SAM is grateful to the owners of “The Rocks” in Townsville: Jeanne, Joe and Sebastian, for their hospitality. The field‐work in Belize was assisted by Cheryl Thacker. The authors thank Mary Rice and the staff of the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce for their help and assistance during our work in Florida. This project was supported by the US National Science Foundation (DEB‐9712463 to J. Norenburg and D. Lipscomb). The authors further acknowledge material and financial support of the George Washington University and the Smithsonian Institution. This is contribution number 733 of the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce and number 821 of the Smithsonian Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Station (Carrie Bow Cay, Belize).