Description of three new species of Protodrilus (Annelida, Protodrilidae) from Central America

Abstract

Three new species of Protodrilus are described from the shallow Western Atlantic waters of Belize and Panama: P. smithsoni sp. nov., P. draco sp. nov. and P. hochbergi sp. nov. Protodrilus smithsoni sp. nov. resembles P. jägersteni and P. submersus from New Zealand, differing by (i) the presence of a dorsal ciliated area on segments 5–6 of males, (ii) lateral organs extending only to segment 15 (versus 16) and (iii) the smaller size of body and palps. Protodrilus draco sp. nov. is similar to the European P. hypoleucus and P. helgolandicus, but differs in (i) each pygidial lobe possessing a short cirrus and (ii) the posterior-most lateral organ extending dorsally. Protodrilus hochbergi sp. nov. resembles P. purpureus and P. schneideri from the Eastern Atlantic, but differs in (i) the extension of the salivary glands to segment 15 (versus 6) and (ii) the presence of paired lateral ciliary bands on the prostomium. This first exploration of Protodrilus along the Caribbean coast of Central America revealed five new species (three described here), but not P. corderoi, a species described from Brazil and recorded at Dominica. The findings indicate a putative high diversity of Protodrilus species in the Western Atlantic, comparable to the well-sampled Eastern Atlantic (18 reported species). The close resemblance to described species stresses the importance of detailed morphological studies, preferably including scanning electron microscopy, as well as DNA data, in order to describe and identify species of Protodrilus.

Keywords:

• Meiofauna
• interstitial
• scanning electron microscopy
• barcoding
• Caribbean

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Acknowledgements

Field efforts were in part supported by a grant from Encyclopedia of Life Biodiversity Synthesis Group to JLN and Rachel Collin. We are greatly indebted to Rachel Collin and the rest of the competent staff at the Bocas Marine Laboratory of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. We thank all the students and professors who participated at the surveys at Bocas del Toro, especially Ashleigh Smythe, Rick Hochberg, Marco Curini-Galletti, Fernando Pardos, Christopher Laumer, Barbara Eder, Tiago José Pereira, Sofia Pyataeva and Kevin Kocot, who sorted out a lot of material from our samples. We thank Peter Rask Møller and Daniel I. Gouge for assisting with collecting (often by SCUBA diving) at Belize and Bocas del Toro. We also thank Prof. Angelika Brandt, curator of the NT II collection at the Zoologisches Museum of Hamburg, as well as Kathrin Philipps-Bussau and Petra Wagner, for facilitating us access to the type material of three species of Protodrilus. The travelling costs of AM and MDD were partially financed by an Encyclopedia of Life fellowship. The travel costs of KW and laboratory work was financed by grants for K. Worsaae from the Carlsberg Foundation and a Freja fellowship (University of Copenhagen). K. Jörger received funding by a PhD scholarship from the Volkswagen Foundation.

Notes

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark