Two sides of a coin: The phylum Kinorhyncha in Panama. I) Caribbean Panama

Abstract

Sampling for meiofauna was carried out in 2010 in Bocas del Toro, Northwest Caribbean Panama, as the first part of a study along Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Panama. Nine kinorhynch species were known previously from the area, some of them being confirmed in the present contribution plus several new citations. In addition, four species new to science are described, Echinoderes rociae sp. nov., Echinoderes orestauri sp. nov., Cristaphyes panamensis sp. nov. and Pycnophyes alexandroi sp. nov. Furthermore, and based on the present material, we redescribe Echinoderes intermedius providing new and more detailed morphological information. The presence of Echinoderes truncatus in the area, reported previously, is also discussed. Hence, an updated list of the kinorhynch fauna for the Caribbean Sea is provided, reaching 33 species.

Two sides of a coin: the phylum Kinorhyncha in Panama. II) Pacific Panama

“…This last easy-to-detect feature, the presence of short and stubby lateral terminal spines is shared by 9 other species in the genus (see contribution of Pardos et al,2016 in this special issue, and discussion therein). Nothing is known about the taxonomic or adaptive value of short and stout LTS.…”

“…In the present contribution, we describe four species of kinorhynchs new to science from the Gulf of Panama on the Pacific coast, including the first Pacific reports of Echinoderes intermedius Sørensen, 2006 and Pycnophyes alexandroi Pardos et al, 2016. In addition, we discuss the distribution of kinorhynch species at both sides of the Isthmus.…”

A new species and first record of Dracoderes (Kinorhyncha: Allomalorhagida: Dracoderidae) from American waters, with an identification key of the genus

“…Samples of meiofauna from the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters collected by Dr R. P. Higgins in 1976 and1980 and deposited in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History of Washington (NMNH) gave the authors the opportunity to study several specimens of Dracoderes from Hispaniola Island, the second largest land mass of the Greater Antilles after Cuba, where kinorhynchs have been scarcely studied. There are few papers dealing with the biodiversity of this phylum in the Caribbean Sea (Higgins, 1983;Kirsteuer, 1964;Neuhaus et al 2014;Pardos et al 2016;Sørensen, 2006). The present study contributes to the understanding of the taxonomy and biogeographical distribution of the allomalorhagid Dracoderes as well as to the knowledge of kinorhynch biodiversity of the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters.…”

New mud dragons from Svalbard: three new species ofCristaphyesand the first Arctic species ofPycnophyes(Kinorhyncha: Allomalorhagida: Pycnophyidae)

“…Besides the new species, Pycnophyes currently accommodates 25 species. Sánchez et al (2016) provide a nearly complete species list for the genus (the questionable species P. echinoderoides Zelinka, 1928 is omitted though, but according to Neuhaus (2013) the species is still valid), and only P. alexandroi Pardos, Sánchez & Herranz, 2016 has been added to the genus since then. Six of the species are easily distinguished from P. ancalagon sp.…”