Lepadella hanneloreae, Luo & Segers, 2020

Luo, Yongting & Segers, Hendrik, 2020, Eight new Lepadellidae (Rotifera, Monogononta) from the Congo bring to level endemism in Africa’s rotifers, Zootaxa 4731 (3), pp. 371-387 : 374-376

Lepadella hanneloreae n. sp.

Figures 5 a–c, I-4

Type locality. Lohulu River near Bomane, DR Congo 24 May 2010 ( KM49 , KM48 ); a few specimens from Yangambi primary forest, DR Congo, 11 June 2012 (Y25). Numerous additional specimens in the samples from the type locality .

Material examined. Holotype: female specimen in permanent slide, deposited in RBINS ( RIR.292) ; Paratypes: seven permanent slides containing one female specimen each, deposited in RBINS; five permanent slides containing two female specimens each, deposited in RBINS ( RIR.293 to RIR.304), one permanent slide containing three female specimens, deposited in CSB-UK .

Differential diagnosis. Lepadella hanneloreae n. sp. is strikingly similar to L. amazonica Segers, 1993 (in Segers et al. 1993b). The two differ by the dorsal carinae on the lorica: in L. hanneloreae n. sp. there is one pair of middorsal and one pair of lateral carinae, whereas in L. amazonica there are two pairs of closely adjacent lateral carinae. Furthermore, the new species is probably related to L. berzinsi Segers, 1993 , but the latter has three pairs of more pronounced carinae situated at regular distances from each other.

Description. Parthenogenetic female (male unknown): Lorica elongate, roughly egg-shaped, width about two thirds of length. Ventral lorica flat, dorsal domed, lorica about twice as wide as high. Head aperture ventrally a deep V-shaped sinus, dorsally semi-circular in anterior view, straight in ventral view, with stippled collar. Dorsal lorica with two pairs of longitudinal carinae: one median pair, fused in the distal third of the lorica, one lateral pair running from behind the collar to approximately level of the apertures to the dorsal antennas. Lateral edges of lorica smooth, evenly curved, posterior edge nearly straight or with a shallow median notch. Apertures to the lateral antennas situated at the level of the anterior margin of the foot aperture, arranged symmetrically about medially from the fused median carinas to the lateral margin of the lorica. Foot aperture elongate, lateral margins nearly parallel. Foot with three distinct pseudosegments, the distal one about twice as long as the second, bearing a dorsal sensory groove near its basis. Two equal toes, these evenly tapering to distally.

Measurements (n=10). Lorica length: 91–106 (100), width: 60–70 (67); head aperture width: 23–37 (29), head aperture depth dorsally: 7–14 (10), ventrally: 19–24 (21); foot aperture width: 18–20 (19), length: 23–33 (27), toe length: 22–29 (25).

Etymology. The specific name is as a noun in the genitive case, after Mrs Hannelore Segers, daughter of the second author of this paper.

Figures

FIGURE 5–9. Lepadella spp., line drawings. Figure 5a–c: Lepadella hanneloreae n. sp., habitus. a: ventral; b: dorsal; c: frontal. Figure 6a–c: Lepadella jingruae n. sp., habitus. a: ventral; b: lateral; c: frontal. Figure 7a–c: Lepadella weijiai n. sp., habitus. a: ventral; b: dorsal; c: frontal. Figure 8a–c: Lepadella yangambi n. sp., habitus. a: ventral; b: dorsal; c: lateral; d: caudal. Figure 9a–c: Lepadella wilungulai n. sp., habitus. a: ventral; b: dorsal; c: frontal. (all scale bars: 50µm).