A new genus and species of Loricifera (Nanaloricida: Pliciloricidae) from the deep waters of Japan
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ORIGINAL PAPER
A new genus and species of Loricifera (Nanaloricida: Pliciloricidae) from the deep waters of Japan Shinta Fujimoto 1
&
Hiroshi Yamasaki 2 & Taeko Kimura 3 & Susumu Ohtsuka 4 & Reinhardt Møbjerg Kristensen 5
Received: 17 July 2020 / Revised: 6 October 2020 / Accepted: 15 October 2020 # Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung 2020
Abstract In this paper, we describe Wataloricus japonicus gen. et sp. nov. (phylum Loricifera), based on specimens collected during surveys of Japanese waters in the Northwest Pacific conducted onboard the TR/Vs TOYOSHIO MARU and SEISUI MARU. This new loriciferan is placed in the family Pliciloricidae based on the morphology of the adult lorica and Higgins larval internal armature, setae, and toes. It is readily distinguished from other pliciloricid genera by the following combination of characters: adult with a long rigid mouth tube bearing an umbrella-like membrane that extrudes from the mouth opening; a double organ consisting of two untransformed separate spinoscalids; 15 single trichoscalids; and approximately 46 longitudinal folds in the lorica and anal field; and Higgins larva with clavoscalids characterized by ventral swelling and spine-like tip; short unsegmented spinoscalids of the second scalid row; indistinct collar, heavily wrinkled thorax; two pairs of anterior setae; two pairs of posterior setae; and slender toes with sub-terminal swelling. The new genus described herein appears to be synonymous with a previously reported undescribed genus sensu Heiner and Neuhaus (2007) from the Galapagos Spreading Centre, thereby indicating that the geographical distribution of the new genus may at least span the entire Pacific region. Keywords Deep sea . Meiofauna . Northwest Pacific . Sea of Kumano . Systematics . Yaku-Shin-Sone bank
Introduction The phylum Loricifera is a marine meiofauna-exclusive taxon originally described by Kristensen (1983). As of 2020, 38 extant and a single Cambrian species have been formally described from the marine sediment environments of oceans worldwide (Neves et al. 2016, 2019; Harvey and Butterfield 2017; Kristensen 2017). In contrast to this small number of described species, more than 100 undescribed species have
been recognized by experts (Heiner Bang-Berthelsen et al. 2013). The paucity of our current knowledge of loriciferan species diversity can be ascribed to their particular features, notably the almost disjunct morphologies of the sexually reproducing adults and juveniles (the so-called Higgins larvae and Shira larvae) and often complex life cycles (e.g. Neves et al. 2016), the expertise required to distinguish relevant morphological characters for species identification (e.g. Fujimoto and Kristensen 2020), and the small number of such experts.
This article is registered in ZooBank under http://zoobank.org/ 6BDAA934-CA6B-40DC-9C7E-B63EC06588C4 Communicated by S. Gollner * Shinta Fujimoto [email protected] 1
Research Center for Marine Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, 9 Sakamoto, Asamus
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