Potamothrix scleropenis sp. nov. (Oligochaeta: Tubificidae) from Fuxian Lake, the Deepest Lake in Southwest China

Abstract

-Potamothrix scleropenis sp. nov. (Tubificidae: Tubificinae) is described from the profundal zone (74 m) of Fuxian Lake, the deepest lake (up to 155 m) on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in China. The new species is assigned to Potamothrix because of its short vasa deferentia and its tubular atria without ejaculatory ducts and prostate glands. It differs from congeners by its cuticularized penis sheaths; bifurcated, strongly curved spermathecal chaetae; bifurcated lower prongs of bifids; and feathered hairs. P. scleropenis appears closely related to P. cekanovskajae Finogenova, 1972 and P. tudoranceai Š porka, 1994, since all the three species have homogeneous atria without prostate glands.

The genusPotamothrix(Annelida, Oligochaeta, Tubificidae): a literature review

“…The latter was transferred into the genus Haber, with some hesitation, already by Holmquist (1979) and, decisively, by Milligan (1986. Cui & Wang (2005, 2012a also discovered a separate, apparently monophyletic species group of this genus in ancient lakes of the Yunnan Plateau, southern China ( Fig. 2, 3).…”

Macrozoobenthic community of Fuxian Lake, the deepest lake of southwest China

“…Among oligochaete species, Potamothrix scleropenis is endemic (Cui and Wang, 2005), and the specific identities of another six, Potamothrix sp.1, Potamothrix sp.2, Potamothrix sp.3, Tubificinae gen. sp.1, Tubificinae gen. sp.2, and Tubificinae (?) gen.…”

“…The results, including community structure, characteristics of the macrofauna, seasonal changes and environmental parameters, are dealt with in the present paper. A new endemic species found during the work was described previously (Cui and Wang, 2005).…”

“…This tectonic lake is known to have a unique fauna, including 14 endemic species described to date (Cui and Wang, 2005;Sket, 2000;Yang and Chen, 1995). However, previous works on macrozoobenthos in this lake were chiefly concentrated on these uncommon findings (Liu et al, 1980;Sket, 2000;Wang, 1988); a study covering entire benthic community is still lacking.…”

Three new species of Potamothrix (Oligochaeta, Naididae, Tubificinae) from Fuxian Lake, the deepest lake of Yunnan Province, Southwest China

“…During a limnological investigation of lakes in this province in 2002-2003, a number of oligochaete samples were collected. In five previous accounts (Cui and Wang 2005, 2008, 2009, 2012; Cui et al 2008), 31 species representing 14 genera were reported on the basis of the collected material. As a serial study, this paper gives the description of three new species of Potamothrix Vejdovský & Mrázek, 1902 (Oligochaeta: Naididae, Tubificinae) from Fuxian Lake, Potamothrix praeprostatus sp.…”