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Issue: Vol. 5647 No. 4: 17 Jun. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-06-17
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5647.4.3
Page range: 359-370
Abstract views: 163
PDF downloaded: 60

A new gastrotrich, Musellifer leasiae sp. nov. (Paucitubulatina: Muselliferidae), from Antarctica—the first Muselliferidae species description from the Southern Hemisphere

Natural History Museum of Denmark; University of Copenhagen; 2100 Copenhagen; Denmark
University of Massachusetts Lowell; Lowell 01854; Massachusetts; USA
Marine Biology Research Group; Department of Biology; Ghent University; 9000 Ghent; Belgium
Marine Biology Research Group; Department of Biology; Ghent University; 9000 Ghent; Belgium
Department of Oceanography; University of Hawai’i at Mānoa; Honolulu HI 96822; Hawaii; USA
Coastal and Marine Laboratory; Florida State University; St Teresa 32346; Florida; USA; National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research; Wellington 6021; New Zealand
Rotifera Gastrotricha meiofauna meiobenthos taxonomy

Abstract

A new gastrotrich species, Musellifer leasiae sp. nov., is described from the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The species is recognised by its considerable size, up to 415 µm, and by its conspicuous three-lobed, keeled head scales. Besides the new species, the genus Musellifer accommodates five additional species known from the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Central-West Atlantic, the Northeast Atlantic, and the Northeast Pacific, and from depths ranging from sublittoral to 5.485 m depth. A representative of Musellifer has previously been reported from Antarctica, but M. leasiae sp. nov. represents the first formally described Muselliferidae species from the Southern Hemisphere, and from the polar regions.

 

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How to Cite

Sørensen, M.V., Araújo, T.Q., Macheriotou, L., Braeckman, U., Smith, C.R. & Ingels, J. (2025) A new gastrotrich, Musellifer leasiae sp. nov. (Paucitubulatina: Muselliferidae), from Antarctica—the first Muselliferidae species description from the Southern Hemisphere. Zootaxa, 5647 (4), 359–370. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5647.4.3