<strong>A new species of <em>Cephalodasys</em> (Gastrotricha, Macrodasyida) from the Caribbean Sea with a determination key to species of the genus</strong>

Abstract

A new marine gastrotrich species of the genus Cephalodasys is described from shallow sublittoral coralline sand sampled between Lee Stocking Island and Norman's Pond Cay (Exuma Cays), Bahamas. Cephalodasys interinsularis n. sp. reaches a body length of 471 µm and is characterized by a new combination of characters including six total anterior adhesive tubes and five pairs of ventrolateral adhesive tubes. The new species is morphologically similar to C. swedmarki but can be distinguished by the different number of anterior adhesive tubes, the spatial arrangement of the ventrolateral adhesive tubes, and a shorter pharynx. We provide an updated diagnosis of the genus and a determination key to all known species of Cephalodasys. C. interinsularis n. sp. is the third known species of Cephalodasys from the Caribbean marine province.

A synopsis of knowledge, zoogeography and an online interactive map of Brazilian marine gastrotrichs

“…The only significant difference between Brazilian marine and freshwater gastrotrichs is related to the number of available identification keys; that mainly exists for marine species. In the last years, taxonomic keys for species belonging to six genera were published, and many listed taxa in Brazil, for example, Aspidiophorus (Todaro et al, 2009); Cephalodasys (Kieneke, Schmidt-Rhaesa & Hochberg, 2015); Dactylopodola (Von Und Zu Gilsa et al, 2014); Paraturbanella (Todaro et al, 2017); Pseudostomella (Clausen, 2004; Todaro, 2012; Araújo et al, 2016) and Tetranchyroderma (Todaro, 2002).…”

A new species of Turbanellidae (Gastrotricha, Macrodasyida) from Jamaica, with a key to species of Paraturbanella

“…Todaro 2002, 2012, Clausen 2004, Kånneby et al 2009, Todaro et al 2009, Von Und Zu Gilsa et al 2014, Garraffoni and Melchior 2015, Kieneke et al 2015, , Kånneby 2016, Minowa and Garraffoni 2017). However, none of them have dealt with species of Paraturbanella .…”

“…From 2010 to 2013, several international groups of researchers surveyed the gastrotrich fauna of different islands in the South Floridian, Bahamian, Lesser Antilles and Central Caribbean ecoregions. Accounts of these studies can be found in, e.g., Hochberg and Atherton (2010, 2011), Hummon (2010a), Atherton and Hochberg (2012a, b), Hochberg et al (2013, 2014), Atherton (2014), Kånneby et al (2014), Von Und Zu Gilsa et al (2014), Kieneke et al (2015), Araujo and Hochberg (2017a, b), Schuster et al (2017). Research teams headed by one of us (MAT) have visited three islands: St. John in the US-Virgin islands, Jamaica, and Curaçao.…”

The curious and neglected soft-bodied meiofauna: Rouphozoa (Gastrotricha and Platyhelminthes)

“…Details on the anatomy and biology of freshwater gastrotrichs are reported in Balsamo et al (2014) and Kieneke & Schmidt-Rhaesa (2015). A general key to gastrotrich families and genera was recently published by Todaro et al (2019).…”