Anocellidae

Quiroga, Sigmer Y., Bolaños, D. Marcela & Litvaitis, Marian K., 2006, First description of deep­sea polyclad flatworms from the North Pacific: Anocellidus n. gen. profundus n. sp. (Anocellidae, n. fam.) and Oligocladus voightae n. sp. (Euryleptidae), Zootaxa 1317, pp. 1-19 : 3

Family: Anocellidae n. fam.

Definition: Ilyplanoidea without eyes. Ruffled pharynx located anteriorly; long, pointed tentacles present. Gonopores separate and male copulatory apparatus positioned posterior to male pore, hence directed forwards; armed with a long and pointed stylet directed backwards. Prostatic­like glands (prostatoid organs, sensu Faubel 1983) absent. Spermiducal bulbs present instead of a true seminal vesicle. Female apparatus with Lang’s vesicle. A ventral disk of potentially sensory function, positioned anterior to the cerebral ganglion; this organ is not homologous with the cotylean sucker.

Taxonomic remarks regarding the new family: According to Faubel (1983), the absence of a true prostatic vesicle is the taxonomic character defining the superfamily Ilyplanoidea which includes the families Enantiidae Graff 1889 , Discocelidae Laidlaw 1903 , Discoprosthididae , Euplanidae , Ilyplanidae , Mucroplanidae and Paluidae (the last five all by Faubel 1983). The ruffled pharynx and a male tract without a trace of prostaticlike glands or a prostatic vesicle would place this new species into the genus Aprostatum , within the Euplanidae . This family is defined by a ruffled, centrally located pharynx, a posteriorly­dircted male copulatory apparatus, separate gonopores, and a complete lack of prostatic­like glands ( Faubel 1983). Although these characters conform to those found in our new species, an additional character found in our specimens warrants the establishment of the new family Anocellidae .

The defining character of the Anocellidae is that the male copulatory apparatus is located posterior to the male gonopore and is directed anteriorly. This is exactly opposite of the condition found in the Euplanidae , where the male copulatory complex is located anterior to the male gonopore and directed posteriorly ( Table 1 ). Using a single character as a basis for a new family without a complete reanalysis of acotylean classification may appear precipitous, however, “orientation of male copulatory apparatus” weighs heavily in the classification system of acotyleans and has previously been used in defining families ( Faubel 1983). In fact, Lang (1884) used it as the main character to establish the Cestoplanidae , a group in which the male copulatory apparatus is located posterior to the male gonopore and is directed anteriorly. Other morphological differences however eliminate placement of the new species in the Cestoplanidae ( Table 1 ), thus justifying the establishment of the family Anocellidae .