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A new genus of marine chaetonotids (Gastrotricha), with a description of two new species from Greenland and Denmark

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2005

M.A. Todaro
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia Animale, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, via Campi, 213/d, I-41100 Modena, Italy
M. Balsamo
Affiliation:
Istituto di Scienze Morfologiche, Università di Urbino, Loc. Crocicchia, I-61029 Urbino, Italy
R.M. Kristensen
Affiliation:
Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

Abstract

Two new marine species of Gastrotricha: Chaetonotidae are described from West Greenland and Denmark. Some peculiar features suggest the affiliation of the two species to a new genus, for which the name Diuronotus is proposed. The affinity of these gastrotrichs with species of Musellifer, the only genus entirely marine and hermaphroditic, and possibly the most basal one along the Chaetonotidae evolutionary line, is discussed from a morphological point of view. The span of the geographical distribution of Diuronotus is discussed in the light of a record of an additional co-generic, undescribed species from the USA. The relationships of this genus will be important in reconstructing the evolutionary pathways within Gastrotricha: Chaetonotida.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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