Typhlopolycystis limicola Schilke, 1970

Schockaert, Ernest R., Moons, Patricia, Janssen, Toon, Tessens, Bart S., Reygel, Patrick C., Revis, Nathalie, Jouk, Philippe E. H., Willems, Wim R. & Artois, Tom J., 2019, On the genus Typhlopolycystis Karling, 1956 (Platyhelminthes, Kalyptorhynchia, Polycystididae), with data on the five known species and the description of eleven new species, Zootaxa 4603 (1), pp. 81-104 : 100

Typhlopolycystis limicola Schilke, 1970

Species inquirenda

Diagnosis. Gray and opaque species of Typhlopolycystis with eyes, 0.8 mm long. The proboscis is 1/5 of the body length (see fig. 5 of Schilke, 1970). The prostate stylet and the accessory stylet are proximally attached to a “very thin membranous” ring of 62 µm (measures taken on Schilke’s fig. 5). The prostate stylet in the form of “a sickle” is 35 µm long (45 µm according to Schilke). The accessory stylet is 60 µm long with a sharp bent end. The seminal receptacle has the chilli pepper shape.

Occurrence. Mid-littoral sandy beaches on the Island of Sylt, Germany.

Material examined. None. The species has been described only on living animals.

Additional data. As said earlier, Schockaert & Karling (1975) consider T. limicola Schilke, 1970 as a synonym of T. mediterranea . Schilke (1960) claims that the proximal ring in T. limicola is more delicate than in T. mediterranea , and that it has a sharper accessory stylet. If the general organisation in fig. 5 of Schilke is correct, the proboscis seems to be only 1/5 to 1/6 of the body length, while it is up to 1/ 3 in T. mediterranea . On the other hand, the measurements of the copulatory organ fall in the range of variation seen in T. mediterranea . So, for the time being, and as long as no new material is available from Sylt, we prefer to consider T. limicola as a species inquirenda.