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Newly discovered parasitic Turbellaria of opisthobranch gastropods

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2010

Kosuke Sudo ,
Yoshiaki J. Hirano  and
Yayoi M. Hirano
Kosuke Sudo*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Science and Technology, Chiba University, Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8522, Japan
Yoshiaki J. Hirano
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Science, Chiba University, Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8522, Japan Marine Biosystems Research Center, Chiba University, Uchiura 1, Kamogawa, 299-5502, Japan
Yayoi M. Hirano
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Science, Chiba University, Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8522, Japan Marine Biosystems Research Center, Chiba University, Uchiura 1, Kamogawa, 299-5502, Japan
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: K. Sudo, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Chiba University, Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku Chiba, 263-8522, Japan email: kousuke@graduate.chiba-u.jp
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Abstract

An endoparasitic platyhelminth from six species of sacoglossan opisthobranchs was collected at several localities of temperate to subtropical waters in Japan. Poecilostomatoid copepods (all species of Splanchnotrophidae and several species of Philoblennidae) and a few digenean flukes had been the only endoparasitic metazoans known for opisthobranch hosts. The newly discovered parasite was 1 to 15 mm in length and had no eyes, mouth, pharynx, or intestine. It had no external organs for parasitic life (e.g. attachment organs) and inhabited the haemocoel of the host. When mature, it emerged from the host and secreted a silky substance around itself to form a cocoon. The cocoon contained egg capsules with 19–42 eggs. Larvae, hatched from the capsule, had a ciliated body and a pair of eye spots. They were negatively phototactic and capable of invading suitable hosts. These morphological and life history features suggest this parasitic worm may belong to the family Fecampiidae (Platyhelminthes: Turbellaria), one of a few obligate parasite taxa in Turbellaria. Molluscan hosts which are common for parasitic Platyhelminthes have not previously been known for this family. The newly discovered parasite may be important for understanding the evolution of parasitism in Platyhelminthes.

Keywords

Fecampiidaeturbellarian parasiteSacoglossaJapantaxonomy
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 91 , Issue 5 , August 2011 , pp. 1123 - 1133
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

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