Abstract
A new fish leech Ambulobdella shandikovi n. g., n. sp. (Hirudinida: Piscicolidae), a parasite of Whitson’s grenadier Macrourus whitsoni (Regan) (Macrouridae: Gadiformes) collected in the Ross Sea at depths from 1,221 to 1,433 m, is described and compared with related taxa based on morphological and molecular characters. Ambulobdella shandikovi n. sp. is characterised by prominent segmental tubercles on the venter and dorsal segmental tubercles, an uncommon appearance of its anterior sucker with ear-like edges and an inner membrane around the mouth-pore, well-developed musculature and a unique combination of features of the reproductive and digestive systems. The presence of uncommon tubercles can be attributed, in part, to temporary associations of A. shandikovi n. sp. with its fish hosts and a need for well-developed sensory and locomotory organs. A certain locomotory function of ventrolateral tubercles of A. shandikovi n. sp. is hypothesised and discussed. Further deep-sea surveys are obviously needed to shed light on the behaviour and mode of locomotion of this species.
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Acknowledgements
Our special thanks go to Dr Gennadiy Shandikov for collecting the valuable material and George Utevsky for his technical assistance. DNA sequences of A. shandikovi n. sp. and H. marginata were obtained using facilities and equipment of the Department of Biology, University of Ljubljana, courtesy of Professor Boris Sket and Professor Peter Trontelj.
Funding
This research was supported in part by the National Antarctic Scientific Center of Ukraine, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (grant 0117U004836) and a CAML/SCAR-MarBIN TOTAL Foundation minigrant.
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This article was registered in the Official Register of Zoological Nomenclature (ZooBank) as 0FFF1867-BF3B-4D2B-83EF-BE894F838912. This article was published as an Online First article on the online publication date shown on this page. The article should be cited by using the doi number. This is the Version of Record.
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Utevsky, A., Utevsky, S. New Antarctic deep-sea weird leech (Hirudinida: Piscicolidae): morphological features and phylogenetic relationships. Syst Parasitol 95, 849–861 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-018-9816-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-018-9816-y