Antygomonas caeciliae, a new kinorhynch from the Mediterranean Sea, with report of mitochondrial genetic data for the phylum

Abstract

Kinorhyncha is a phylum of microscopic marine metazoans living from intertidal to abyssal depths. More than 200 species are known; nevertheless, recent studies have pointed out that most of this group’s diversity has not been revealed. A survey of the peculiar Meloria Shoals seabed (Ligurian Sea, Italy) led to the discovery of a new kinorhynch named Antygomonas caeciliae sp. nov. A cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) mtDNA gene is reported for the new species; hence, a morphological and molecular approach is used for the description of this new taxon, and a comparison with related species is proposed, including a key to the species of Antygomonas. Some additional COI sequences are reported for other taxa of the phylum, with the aim of developing molecular tools which will be useful for species identification, particularly when dealing with juvenile stages.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:26BD19DD-30E6-40D3-9E4C-82D117D9CEF9

Key words:

• Barcoding
• biogeography
• COI
• DNA
• meiofauna
• Kinorhyncha
• taxonomy

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Professor M. A. Todaro for providing the samples and all equipment and material necessary for the study, together with some comments on the manuscript. I also thank the staff of CIGS (Centro Interdipartimentale Grandi Strumenti, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) for the help provided in the use of the scanning electron microscope. I am indebted to the personnel at the Consortium for the Interuniversity Center of Marine Biology and Applied Ecology at Leghorn (CIBM) for the material and the help provided. Last but not least, I want to thank my wife Cecilia – to whom this new species is dedicated – for her love, patience and presence in my life.

Editorial responsibility: Tomas Cedhagen