Colurella, Bory De St. Vincent, 1823

Wei, Nan, Jersabek, Christian D., Xu, Runlin & Yang, Yufeng, 2019, New species and records of Colurella (Rotifera: Lepadellidae) from South China, with a key to Chinese Colurella, Zootaxa 4586 (3), pp. 475-490 : 481

Colurella sp.

( Fig. 5 )

Only a few specimens of this large and apparently undescribed Colurella species occurred in July 2008 at the artificial pond site on Qi’ao Island ( Tab. 1 ), only once during four years of sampling.

As our observations on this species are based on a single occasion only, and only insufficient specimen material could be studied, a critical evaluation of the taxonomic relevance of the characters is difficult. We therefore refrain from formally describing and naming the species, but give a brief description below, to facilitate future re-discovery and description.

Colurella sp. can easily be confused with the morphologically similar C. sanoamuangae and C. ovalis sp. nov. It can be distinguished from C. sanoamuangae by its more rounded lorica, with ratios of length/height 1.53 and length/width 1.97, compared to about 1.7 and 2.4 in C. sanoamuangae (based on figures in the original description and specimens from Hainan Island), and especially by its wide u-shaped sinus at the posterior end of the lorica (dorsal/ventral view), compared to a peculiar tongue-shaped caudal projection above the foot aperture in C. sanoamuangae . It differs from C. ovalis sp. nov. mostly by the symmetrical, dorsoposteriorly slightly concave lorica, with wide u-shaped sinus over the foot aperture (dorsal/ventral view), and spread toes. Our earlier record of C. sanoamuangae from artificial ponds on Qi’ao Island ( Wei & Xu, 2010) thus refers to this species.

Measurements. Body (N = 1 females): Lorica length 101.8 µm, lorica height 66.5 µm, lorica width 51.7 µm, anterior aperture width 51.3 µm, second foot pseudosegment 5.0 µm, third foot pseudosegment 8.3 µm, toe length 48.9 µm.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Colurella sp. A, C. Left lateral view. B. Ventral view. D. Dorsal view. Scale bar: A–D: 50 µm.