Pseudohaplogonaria caribbea Hooge and Tyler, 2007

Hooge, Matthew D. & Tyler, Seth, 2008, Acoela (Acoelomorpha) from Bocas del Toro, Panama, Zootaxa 1719, pp. 1-40 : 16

Pseudohaplogonaria caribbea Hooge and Tyler, 2007

Material. Living specimens in squeeze preparations; one set of 2-µm-thick serial sagittal sections of epoxyembedded specimen stained with toluidine blue.

Localities. Pond Sock Reef (917’17.9” N, 82°19’39.9” W), from fine-grained sand at 2 m water depth collected from sediment surrounding a sunken boat; Crawl Cay (914’37.8” N, 82°08’25.0” W), from finegrained sand from 1 m water depth; Islas Zapatillas (915’56.4” N, 82°02’75.0” W), from subtidal fine-grained sand; Isla Colon, Mangrove Inn (919.870’ N, 82°15.286’ W), from fine-grained sand at 3–4 m water depth.

Description. Mature specimens ~500 µm long. Anterior and posterior ends rounded. Numerous red rhabdoids present in epidermis. Female gonopore and vagina absent. Seminal bursa and bursal nozzle present. Male gonopore ventral at posterior end of body; surrounded by large gland cells. Seminal vesicle positioned slightly anterior to gonopore gland cells.

Remarks. This species was easily noticed in our meiofauna extractions due to its prominent red rhaboid glands. However, in some samples, P. caribbea co-occured with an unidentified acoel that also bears large red rhabdoid glands ( Figs. 13 A–C). We did not collect adequate material to identify or describe this second species; however, it can be readily distinguished from P. caribbea by to its possession of additional uncolored rhaboid glands that are visible in squeeze preparations ( Fig. 13 C).

Figures

FIGURE 13. Photomicrographs of living a specimen of an unidentified species of acoel. A. Whole specimen. B. Copulatory organs. C. Rhabdoid glands. Size of specimen not recorded.