Description of Leptolaimus boucheri sp. nov. (Nematoda: Leptolaimidae) from the Bohai Sea, China

ABSTRACT

A new free-living marine nematode belonging to the genus Leptolaimus was discovered in the Bohai Sea, China, and is described here as Leptolaimus boucheri sp. nov. The new species is characterised by males having a papillary, four tubular and 15–21 alveolar precloacal supplements, females having only one tubular pre-anal supplement; cephalic sensilla very short and papilliform. The species can be distinguished from others of the genus by both males and females having precloacal or pre-anal supplements, and males with both tubular and alveolar precloacal supplements, females with only one tubular pre-anal supplement. An identification key for the group of Leptolaimus species characterised by the presence of both alveolar and tubular precloacal supplements is also given.

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7D8CD22F-619C-4FE9-B147-5C38A6EAC3F3

KEYWORDS:

• free-living marine nematode
• new species
• taxonomy
• Tianjin Bay

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Ms Mengdi Chu for her kind help having specimens sorted and slides mounted. We are sincerely grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for providing valuable criticisms and improving the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 41676146].