Typhlopolycystis coomansi Schockaert & Karling, 1975

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 : 89-91

Typhlopolycystis coomansi Schockaert & Karling, 1975

( Fig. 7 )

Diagnosis: Yellowish-brown species of Typhlopolycystis with a very large proboscis (1/3 of body length) and with eyes. The hard parts of the copulatory organ consist of a small main stylet of 26 µm (n=4, 22 µm in the holotype) with rounded “lips” and no thickenings, and a strong straight accessory stylet of 68 mm (n=4, 60 µm in the holotype) that ends in a sharp curled hook, both sitting on a ring of about 20 by 40 mm.

Occurrence. France: Plateau des Chèvres in the Gulf of Marseille, Amphioxus -sand, at 8–10 m depth (by Brunet , 3 February 1966 — type locality); Banyuls-sur-Mer, Labo Arago, L’Herbier, at the end of the longest pipeline, sand with silt and rocks, 10 m deep (by Revis & Jouk, 8 July 2008) . Norway: S. of Bergen, Korsfjord, Liholmen , fine sand at 7 m (by Karling, 29 July 1968) . Portugal: Faro, opposite the Island of Barretta ( Algarve ), coarse sand with shell debris at 26 m depth (by Tessens, 23 May 2013) .

Material examined. The holotype (whole mount, SMNH type nr 2702). Observations on the living animals from Banuyls and Faro and micrographs of the living animals. Two whole mounts from Banyuls (HU nrs IX.4.31–32) and one from Faro (HU nr IX.4.33). The whole mount of the specimen from Liholmen (SMNH nr 43589).

Additional data. In the original description, data were included from a living specimen from the isle of Tekslo ( Norway) because the authors wrongly assumed that the curved accessory stylet was an artefact. Of this specimen, no whole mount exists and with the drawing given (figure 41 in Schockaert & Karling (1975)) an unambiguous identification cannot be made; but this animal has a straight accessory stylet and is therefore most probably not T. coomansi . They also present a drawing (figure 34) and a micrograph (figure 37) of the copulatory organ of an individual from Liholmen ( Norway) that they consider a representative of T. mediterranea . However, when studying the copulatory organ of the individual from Faro, especially when comparing the situation in the slightly squeezed animal ( Fig. 7B ) with the situation in the whole mount ( Fig. 7F ) we realised that the copulatory organ in the micrograph is very similar to that of the Norwegian specimen ( Fig. 7G ). Re-studying this specimen more carefully, we observe that it appears to have an accessory stylet with a sharp curled ending, directed upwards, however, and thus difficult to see when one is not adverted.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Typhlopolycystis coomansi Schockaert and Karling, 1975. (A) Micrograph of a living animal from Faro (S. Portugal). (B) Male atrial organs and (C) female atrial organs in the same animal. (D-G) The copulatory organ in (D) the holotype from Marseille (France), (E) an individual from Banyuls (S. France), (F) the individual from Faro and (G) the individual from Liholmen (Norway). (scale = 20 µm except in A)