Pruvotia cf. sopita (Pruvot, 1891)

Proneomenia sopita Pruvot, 1891: 721 .

Pruvotia sopita – Thiele 1913: 273.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Corsica (France) • 1 specimen (used for sclerite preparations and DNA extraction); CORSICABENTHOS 2 (Table 2); 80 m depth; MNHN-IM-2019-1744; GenBank: OR456214; OR458908 (1 microscope slide with sclerites, anterior and posterior regions preserved in 95% ethanol).

DESCRIPTION

Small white animal (7 × 1-1.5mm) with the anterior region slightly wider than the posterior one, rounded ends (Fig. 4C). With hollow acicular sclerites (80-100 × 6-8 µm) (Fig. 8K, L). Sclerites barely protruding from cuticle. Found on Sertularella sp. ( Hydrozoa).

REMARKS

The tentative identification of the specimen as Pruvotia sopita is based on its external appearance and the way it is attached to the Sertularella sp. colony. The habitus of the Corsica specimen, characterized by a small, white body, and the absence of coiling around its host but rather attachment solely at the anterior region of the body to the hydrozoan branches, closely mirrors the description provided by Pruvot (1891) for Pruvotia sopita . This resemblance is further sustained by our own observations of this species (Castro-Claros et al. pers. comm.). Histology was not performed due to the specimen’s small size and the fact that it was damaged. Consequently, our identification relies on these characteristic external features. Interestingly, our phylogenetic analysis recovers the Corsica specimen well within Pruvotinidae with strong support (bootstrap support: 92%; Fig. 2). Confirmation of the identification of this specimen as Pruvotia sopita would necessitate a reevaluation of not only Pruvotia ’s classification within Rhopalomeniidae but also of the monophyly of Pruvotinidae with respect to Rhopalomeniidae .