2,056 research outputs found
Calviria Martens and Curini-Galletti 1993
No full text<i>Calviria</i> Martens and Curini-Galletti, 1993 <p> <b>Diagnosis.</b> Protandric Calviriidae. Epidermis with intra-epithelial nuclei. With a septum in front of the pharynx and a sphincter around the gut above it. Numerous large hyaline vacuoles under the body wall. A single seminal vesicle filled with large sperm. The copulatory organ is directed forwards with atrial needles arranged in a ring. Accessory glandular organ separated and in front of the male atrium. Simple female system with both ovovitelloducts opening in a short female duct and with or without bursa.</p> <p> <b>Type species:</b> <i>Calviria solaris</i> Martens and Curini-Galletti, 1993.</p> <p> <b>Other species:</b> <i>C. sublittoralis</i> Martens and Curini-Galletti, 1993 and <i>C. banyulensis</i> Martens and Curini-Galletti, 1993.</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> All three species have four needles in the accessory organ, which is (apparently) not connected to the exterior. Only <i>C. solaris</i> has a small terminal bursa in the female system.</p>Published as part of <i>Schockaert, Ernest R., Curini-Galletti, Marco, Ridder, Wouter De & Artois, Tom, 2011, On the Calviriidae Martens and Curini-Galletti, 1993 (Platyhelminthes, Proseriata), with the description of three new species, pp. 32-46 in Zootaxa 3034</i> on page 43, DOI: <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/203197">10.5281/zenodo.203197</a>
Calviriidae Martens and Curini-Galletti 1993
No full textCalviriidae Martens and Curini-Galletti, 1993 <p> <b>Diagnosis.</b> The Calviriidae are lithophorous Proseriata with an encapsulated brain, a precerebral gut diverticulum, intraepidermal or insunk nuclei and the epidermis completely ciliated. Ovaries anterior of and close to the pharynx, with vitellarian follicles in front of and behind the ovaries. The female duct is short, the oviducts joining behind the male copulatory organ and the female pore behind it (digonoporid condition). A bursa behind the female pore may be present; no genito-intestinal connection. Testes in front of the ovaries. Copulatory organ with atrial needles only or unarmed. With a single or paired seminal vesicles. Accessory glandular organ present, with or without needles, opening into the male atrium or separately. Horizontal pharynx not elongated nor with a long prominent glandular proximal section. A muscular septum in front of the pharynx and a sphincter around the gut dorsal to the pharynx may be present. With prominent frontal glands opening in a sub-terminal depression.</p>Published as part of <i>Schockaert, Ernest R., Curini-Galletti, Marco, Ridder, Wouter De & Artois, Tom, 2011, On the Calviriidae Martens and Curini-Galletti, 1993 (Platyhelminthes, Proseriata), with the description of three new species, pp. 32-46 in Zootaxa 3034</i> on page 34, DOI: <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/203197">10.5281/zenodo.203197</a>
Duplominona chicomendesi Curini-Galletti & Stocchino & Norenburg 2019, n. sp.
No full text<i>Duplominona chicomendesi</i> Curini-Galletti n. sp. <p>(Fig. 5 A–C)</p> <p> <i>Holotype</i>. Puerto Rico: Cayo Turrumote, off Isla Magueyes (Lat. 17.940478, long -67.043068), channels among <i>Montastrea</i> outcrops, about 10 m deep, in silty medium sand, December 1988: original film and printed pictures of the copulatory structures (SMNH-Type 9179).</p> <p> <i>Other material</i>. Same data as holotype, two specimens observed alive, and used for karyology.</p> <p> <i>Etymology</i>. The species’ name honors Chico Mendes (December 15, 1944 – December 22, 1988), a Brazilian environmentalist, who fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and was killed on the very day the holotype of this species was being studied.</p> <p> <i>Description and Diagnosis</i>. Similar to <i>Duplominona dissimilispina</i>, in habitus, arrangement of internal organs, number and position of genital pores (Fig. 5 A). Copulatory organ with a very small cirrus (Figs 5 B, C), with few spines arranged in 5–7 rows. Proximal spines are 3–5 μm in length, strongly curved, with a wide, flattened basis, to 3 μm in diameter. In the middle of cirrus, spines are longer, to 7.5 μm, even more curved, with a very slender distal tip. Distalmost spines are smaller, to 2 μm long, straighter, with a wide, flattened basis. Proximally, the cirrus lumen is surrounded by a furrowed pseudocuticula.</p> <p>Prostatoid stylet about 20 μm long.</p> <p> <i> <i>Karyotype</i>.</i> With n=3, and basic karyotype for the Monocelididae (Curini-Galletti & Martens, 1990); Chromosome pairs I and II markedly differing in length. Karyotype formula: FN=5; Chromosome I: 51.58 ± 2.81; 46.11 ± 1.29 (m); Chromosome II: 33.45 ± 1.53; 45.85 ± 1.34 (m); Chromosome III: 14.95 ± 2.46; 8.11 ± 3.9 (a) (based on 6 plates).</p>Published as part of <i>Curini-Galletti, Marco, Stocchino, Giacinta A. & Norenburg, Jon L., 2019, New species of Duplominona Karling, 1966 and Pseudominona Karling, 1978 (Platyhelminthes: Proseriata) from the Caribbean, pp. 127-147 in Zootaxa 4657 (1)</i> on page 136, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4657.1.5, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/3371005">http://zenodo.org/record/3371005</a>
Archimonocelis carmelitana Martens & Curini-Galletti 1993
No full text<i>Archimonocelis carmelitana</i> Martens & Curini-Galletti, 1993 <p>(Fig. 4 E)</p> <p> <b>Material</b>: Apulia, Italy: Santa Maria di Leuca (Lecce), cave ‘la Principessa’(lat. 39°47’58.50”N, long. 18°22’27.86”E), about 5 m deep in medium to coarse sand, May 2005: two whole mounts (ZMC-62;63), two specimens processed for karyology. Porto Cesareo (Lecce): Torre Scianuli, about 7 m deep in pockets of sediments (mostly shell fragments) on a limestone cliff, May 2005: seven whole mounts (ZMC-64/70), four specimens processed for karyology.</p> <p> <b>Description.</b> Specimens are characterized by an elongate and extremely slender (2–3 µm broad), tubular stylet, with a slightly inflated and oblique basis, 7.5–9 µm in diameter, and with a narrow, oblique, distal tip. Size of stylet is 126 + 6.3 µm and 114 + 7.78 µm long in the samples from Santa Maria di Leuca (n=4) and Torre Scianuli (n=11) respectively. The stylet is connected to two very fine, feebly sclerotized companion spines, 130–156 µm long, about 2 µm broad (fig 4 E). With numerous copulatory spines, numbering 125 + 9 and 97 + 17 in the two samples. These spines are extremely slender, with a stalk about 1 mm broad, and with a slightly falcate apex, provided with a very small, obtuse subterminal tooth. Copulatory spines proximal to the stylet are about 100 µm long; they progressively become shorter, to about 50 µm long, distal to the stylet.</p> <p> <b>Karyotype.</b> Chromosome number: n = 9; FN =9. All chromosomes are acrocentric, slightly differing in length. Chrom. I = r.l.: 13.47 + 0.48; c.i.: 3.36 + 0.62 (t); Chrom. II = r.l.: 12.95 + 0.20; c.i.: 3.55 + 1.34 (t); Chrom. III = r.l.: 12.50 + 0.87; c.i.: 3.62 + 0.12 (t); Chrom. IV = r.l.: 11.92 + 0.34; c.i.: 3.81 + 0.20 (t); Chrom. V = r.l.: 11.54 + 0.26; c.i.: 3.93 + 3.62 (t); Chrom. VI = r.l.: 10.68 + 0.45; c.i.: 8.78 + 4.86 (t); Chrom. VII = r.l.: 10.23 + 0.31; c.i.: 4.31 + 0.15 (t); Chrom. VIII = r.l.: 8.69 + 0.64; c.i.: 5.22 + 0.37 (t); Chrom. IX = r.l.: 7.95 + 0.57; c.i.: 5.71 + 1.46 (t) (based on the measurements of six spermatogonial plates from specimens from Torre Scianuli).</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> <i>A. carmelitana</i>, common and widespread in the eastern Mediterranean, had already been reported for the area of Porto Cesareo (Martens & Curini-Galletti, 1993), which represents the westernmost record for the species. In comparison to the Apulian samples, specimens from the type locality (Israel: Cape Carmel, Haifa) have a smaller and stouter stylet, 97–105 µm long and 3.5–4 µm wide; the copulatory spines are shorter, ranging 52–66 µm in length. Furthermore, the presence of companion spines was not reported (Martens & Curini-Galletti, 1993). However, written observations accompanying the camera lucida drawings of the karyological slides (Curini-Galletti, own preserved material) mentioned the presence of two 'long, evanescent' spines in the Israelian specimens, which were later not included in the original description, based on whole mounts, where these structures are indeed very difficult to be appreciated. The general arrangement of the copulatory structures, number of copulatory spines, and the nearly identical karyometrical data among Israelian and Apulian populations allow to assume that a single, wide-ranging, somewhat variable species is involved.</p>Published as part of <i>Curini-Galletti, Marco, Delogu, Valentina, Campus, Paolo & Casu, Marco, 2007, New species of the genus Archimonocelis Meixner, 1938 (Proseriata, Archimonocelididae) from southern Apulia (Italy), pp. 47-58 in Zootaxa 1557</i> on page 57, DOI: <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/178278">10.5281/zenodo.178278</a>
The Human Homologue of Macaque Area V6A
No full textIn macaque monkeys, V6A is a visuomotor area located in the anterior bank of the POs, dorsal and anterior to retinotopically-organized extrastriate area V6 (Galletti et al 1996). Unlike V6, V6A represents both contra- and ipsilateral visual fields and is broadly retinotopically organized (Galletti et al 1999b). The contralateral lower visual field is over-represented in V6A. The central 20°-30° of the visual field are mainly represented dorsally (V6Ad) and the periphery ventrally (V6Av), at the border with V6. Both sectors of area V6A contain arm movement-related cells, active during spatially-directed reaching movements (Gamberini et al., 2011).
In humans, we previously mapped the retinotopic organization of area V6 (Pitzalis et al., 2006). Here, using phase-encoded fMRI, cortical surface-based analysis and wide-field retinotopic mapping, we define a new cortical region that borders V6 anteriorly and shows a clear over-representation of the contralateral lower visual field and of the periphery. As with macaque V6A, the eccentricity increases moving ventrally within the area. The new region contains a non-mirror-image representation of the visual field. Functional mapping reveals that, as in macaque V6A, the new region, but not the nearby area V6, responds during finger pointing and reaching movements. Based on similarity in position, retinotopic properties, functional organization and relationship with the neighbouring extrastriate visual areas, we propose that the new cortical region is the human homologue of macaque area V6A
Real-motion' cells in area V3A of macaque visual cortex.
No full textThe stability of visual perception despite eye movements suggests the existence, in the visual system, of neural elements able to recognize whether a movement of an image occurring in a particular part of the retina is the consequence of an actual movement that occurred in the visual field, or self-induced by an ocular movement while the object was still in the field of view. Recordings from single neurons in area V3A of awake macaque monkeys were made to check the existence of such a type of neurons (called 'real-motion' cells; see Galletti et al. 1984, 1988) in this prestriate area of the visual cortex. A total of 119 neurons were recorded from area V3A. They were highly sensitive to the orientation of the visual stimuli, being on average more sensitive than V1 and V2 neurons. Almost all of them were sensitive to a large range of velocities of stimulus movement and about one half to the direction of it. In order to assess whether they gave different responses to the movement of a stimulus and to that of its retinal image alone (self-induced by an eye movement while the stimulus was still), a comparison was made between neuronal responses obtained when a moving stimulus swept a stationary receptive field (during steady fixation) and when a moving receptive field swept a stationary stimulus (during tracking eye movement). The receptive field stimulation at retinal level was physically the same in both cases, but only in the first was there actual movement of the visual stimulus. Control trials, where the monkeys performed tracking eye movements without any intentional receptive field stimulation, were also carried out. For a number of neurons, the test was repeated in darkness and against a textured visual background. Eighty-seven neurons were fully studied to assess whether they were real-motion cells. About 48% of them (42/87) showed significant differences between responses to stimulus versus eye movement. The great majority of these cells (36/42) were real-motion cells, in that they showed a weaker response to visual stimulation during tracking than to the actual stimulus movement during steady fixation
GPU accelerated solution of time fractional diffusion systems
No full textFractional diffusion systems model a number of important applications, as for example water diffusion magnetic resonance imaging, since the biological tissues are heterogeneous and the signal exhibits a heavy tail which is characteristic of anomalous diffusion [3]. In this talk, we consider a time-fractional diffusion system discretized by a mixed method, consisting of a spectral method along time and a finite difference scheme along space [1]. As the spatial mesh becomes finer, the computational cost becomes very large and prevents getting high accuracy. In this context, our contribution is a suitable parallel implementation on GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) of this model. This massively multi-processors architecture has been recently used in several scientific applications to improve performance of software [4] and to get accurate and accelerated solutions in similar fractional diffusion problems [2]. Experiments show the gain of performance in execution time and accuracy terms of the parallel implementation.
References
[1] Burrage, K. and Cardone, A. and D’Ambrosio, R. and Paternoster, B. 2017 Numerical solution of time fractional diffusion systems, Appl. Numer. Math. 116, 82–94.
[2] De Luca, P., Galletti, A., Ghehsareh, H.R., Marcellino, L., & Raei, M. A gpucuda framework for solving a two-dimensional inverse anomalous diffusion problem.In: Foster, I., Joubert, G.R., Kučera, L., Nagel, W.E., Peters, F. (eds) Parallel Computing: Technology Trends, Advances in Parallel Computing. Vol 36. pp 311 -320. IOS Press, 2020.
[3] Höfling, F. and Franosch, T. 2013 Anomalous transport in the crowded world of biological cells, Rep. Prog. Phys. 76, 046602.
[4] Kurzak, J., Gates, M., Charara, A., YarKhan, A., Yamazaki, I., & Dongarra, J. (2019, August). Linear systems solvers for distributed-memory machines with gpu accelerators. In European Conference on Parallel Processing (pp. 495-506). Springer, Cham
Duplominona bocasana Curini-Galletti & Stocchino & Norenburg 2019, n. sp.
No full text<i>Duplominona bocasana</i> Curini-Galletti n. sp. <p>(Fig. 3 F–J)</p> <p> <i>Holotype</i>. Panama: Caribbean Sea: Bocas del Toro Is. (Lat. 9.364545, Lon. -82.238835), lower intertidal in coarse sand, sheltered by coral reef, June 2010: one whole mount (USNM 1569256).</p> <p> <b> <i>Other material</i>.</b> Same data as holotype, three specimens studied karyologically.</p> <p> <i>Etymology</i>. The species is named after the type locality, Bocas del Toro.</p> <p> <i>Description</i>. A small species, similar to the previous species in general morphology (Fig. 3 F).</p> <p> <i> <i>Male genital system</i>.</i> With 8–10 testes in one irregular row. Cirrus about 40–70 μm long, provided with 8–15 rows of spines, with relatively few spines per row (Figs 3 G–J). Proximal spines larger, 5-6 μm long, straight, with narrow bases, 2–2.5 μm wide, with a somewhat obtuse distal tip. More distally, spines become more curved in shape, with proportionally wider bases. Distalmost spines become progressively smaller, to 2.5–3 μm high, and 2.5–3 μm wide. Near the top, spines are small, 1.5–2.5 μm high, 1.5–2.5 μm wide, only slightly curved.</p> <p>Prostatoid organ just posterior to copulatory bulb, opening to the outside through it own pore. Prostatoid stylet about 20 μm long.</p> <p> <i> <i>Female genital system</i>.</i> Ovaria and vitellaria as in previous species. With a distinct bursa just in front of copulatory bulb, with external vagina (Fig. 3 F). Female pore posterior to prostatoid organ pore.</p> <p> <i> <i>Karyotype</i>.</i> With n=3, and all chromosomes acrocentric, different in size. Karyotype formula: FN=3; Chromosome I: 57.8; 10.8 (a); Chromosome II: 25.14; 10 (a); Chromosome III: 17.08; 17.24 (st) (based on one plate).</p> <p> <i> <i>Diagnosi</i> s. Small Duplominona species with up to 10 testes in one row. Cirrus long and narrow, with 8–15 rows of narrowly triangular spines up to 6 μm long proximally, becoming progressively more curved and with wider bases medially. Distal spines progressively smaller, to 1.5 μm long. With a prostatoid organ provided with a stylet 20 μm long. With a bursa and an external vagina opening close to male pore. Female duct and prostatoid organ open to the outside independently. Karyotype with three pairs of acrocentric chromosomes</i> </p>Published as part of <i>Curini-Galletti, Marco, Stocchino, Giacinta A. & Norenburg, Jon L., 2019, New species of Duplominona Karling, 1966 and Pseudominona Karling, 1978 (Platyhelminthes: Proseriata) from the Caribbean, pp. 127-147 in Zootaxa 4657 (1)</i> on page 134, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4657.1.5, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/3371005">http://zenodo.org/record/3371005</a>
Parotoplana pythagorae Delogu & Curini-Galletti, 2007, sp. n.
No full textParotoplana pythagorae sp. n. (Figs. 1 A–C; Figs. 6 A–C) Holotype: one whole mount (SMNH 6661). Type locality: Apulia, Italy: Porto Cesareo (Lecce), Bacino Grande Bay, loc. Scala di Furno (lat. 40 ° 16 ’ 26 ”N, long. 17 ° 52 ’ 53.68 ”E), slightly silty coarse sand among rocks, lower intertidal in the Otoplana - zone. May 2005. Additional material: Paratype (SMNH 6662): one specimen from the type locality, sagittally sectioned. Six specimens sagittally sectioned (CZM- 34 / 39); two karyological slides (CZM-40,41); two whole mounts (CZM-42,43), all from the type locality. Etymology: the species name relates to the presence, in the sclerotized structures, of peculiar right-angled triangles, to which Pythagoras’ (Samos, 571 - 496 B.C.) most famous theorem refers. Description. Living specimens agile, colourless and semi-transparent, of average size for the genus: the holotype, an adult worm, is about 1.3 mm long in fixed condition. The anterior end is clearly marked and provided with sensory bristles, and, ventrally, with a few adhesive papillae. The posterior end is fan-shaped and provided with very numerous adhesive papillae (Fig. 1 C). The encapsulated, oval shaped brain (about 60 µm long) abuts on a statocyst (about 21 μm in diameter). Epithelium with intraepithelial nuclei. Ciliation restricted to a sensorial groove in the anterior end, and, ventrally, to a creeping sole that extends from the anterior end to posterior to the genital pore. The ciliated epithelium is markedly higher than the non-ciliated epithelium. Cilia up to 7 μm in length. Rhabdoids (up to 15 µm in length) are numerous dorsally and arranged in longitudinal rows. The gut extends posteriorly nearly to the caudal end and anteriorly to the cephalic area. The nearly median pharynx is collar-shaped; its nucleated epithelium is ciliated except for a small area at the distal tip. Pharyngeal cilia are about 3 µm long. No esophageal area could be seen. The pharyngeal cavity opens to the outside through the mouth, which is surrounded by a ring of circular muscles. Male genital organs. Testes, located anterior to the ovaries, consist of two lateral rows of about ten follicles each (Fig. 1 C). The copulatory organ consists of a sacciform seminal vesicle (about 105 μm long), connected distally to a prostatic vesicle (Figs. 1 B; 6 A, C). The seminal vesicle is lined by a nucleated epithelium. The prostatic vesicle is narrowly elongate and its nucleated epithelium is non ciliated. It is distally connected to the sclerotized apparatus (Figs. 1 A; 6 B) which consists of a central stylet (1), two companion spines (2) and a girdle of smaller spines (3). The stylet (95 μm long in the holotype, range 93–95 μm in the sample) wraps around the distal portion of the ejaculatory duct. In well-squeezed specimens, it is evident that the seemingly tubiform structure seen in semi-squashed living specimens consists of two spines connected for most of their length by a feebly sclerotized lamina. These spines are straight and their distal end is acutely rhomboidal. Two companion spines are placed laterally to the stylet. These spines are 96–98 µm long, slightly wider than the other spines, with distinctly triangular apices. Stylet and companion spines are surrounded by a girdle of 12 slender spines (69 to 76 µm long) with sickle shaped apices, provided with a somewhat obtuse subterminal tooth. The sclerotized apparatus is located within the male antrum, lined by a nucleated epithelium, which opens into the anterior portion of the common atrium. Female genital organs. Two ovaries (Fig. 1 C) are located anterior to the pharynx. Two rows of yolk follicles (vitellaria) are present posterior to the ovaries to the level of the copulatory organ. In the sectioned material, it is possible to trace the presence of the female common duct only in its distal portion, at its opening into the common atrium, where it is surrounded by numerous shell glands (Fig. 1 B). The bursa (Figs. 1 B; 6 A), which is comparatively large and obvious in living specimens, opens into the common atrium close to the opening of the male system, by means of a wide canal about 70 µm long in the sectioned paratype, lined by an epithelium which appears irregular in shape, with numerous folds. The bursa, which is filled with sperm in all specimens sectioned, is lined by a low, nucleated epithelium. Male antrum, female duct and bursal canal open into a vast common genital atrium, which is lined by non ciliated, nucleated epithelium, surrounded by well developed longitudinal muscles. It opens to the outside through the common genital pore. Karyotype. Chromosome number: n = 6; FN = 12. All chromosomes are isobrachial; the first two pairs are more than twice the size of the remaining chromosomes (Fig. 8 B). Chrom. I = r.l.: 28.49 + 0.68; c.i.: 46.06 + 0.55 (m); Chrom. II = r.l.: 27.80 + 0.21; c.i.: 44.04 + 0.66 (m); Chrom. III = r.l.: 12.3 + 0.59; c.i.: 35.8 + 3.01 (sm); Chrom. IV = r.l.: 11.99 + 0.76; c.i.: 46.73 + 0.49 (m); Chrom. V = r.l.: 9.94 + 0.18; c.i.: 30.06 + 0.7 (sm); Chrom. VI = r.l.: 9.46 + 0.46; c.i.: 36.86 + 2.66 (sm) (based on the measurements of five spermatogonial plates). Remarks. Among the species of Parotoplana provided with a stylet (P. re n a t a e; P. papii Ax 1956; P. procerostyla Ax 1956; P. pacifica Ax & Ax 1967; P. macrostyla Lanfranchi 1978 and P. uncinata Lanfranchi 1978) only the Mediterranean P. renatae and P. macrostyla share with P. pythagorae sp. n. a general arrangement of spination consisting of a central stylet, two flanking companion spines and a girdle of smaller spines. Size of the sclerotized structures is comparable: the stylet is about 84–104 μm in P. renatae, 87–90 μm in P. macrostyla and 93–95 μm in the new species; companion spines reach respectively 100 μm (P. re n a t a e), 87– 90 μm (P. macrostyla) and 96–98 μm (P. pythagorae sp.n.) in length; girdle spines are about 71–77 μm long in P. renatae, 74–77 μm in P. macrostyla and 69 to 76 μm in P. pythagorae sp.n. However, in none of the aforementioned species, are the companion spines provided with a distinctly triangular apex, easily appreciable even in semi-squashed living specimens. On the contrary, the apex of the companion spines is sickle-shaped in P. macrostyla and P. renatae (Ax, 1956, Fig. 158, pg. 225), which is provided with a triangular, laminar stylet. The stylet of P. macrostyla has a split apex (Lanfranchi, 1978, Fig. 1 B, pg. 250), and thus somewhat similar to the new species. However, in P. macrostyla the common female duct is virtually not existing, and the two oviducts join just at their opening into the common atrium (Lanfranchi, 1978, Fig. 3, pg. 250). On the contrary, the existence of a common female duct could be observed in all the sectioned specimens of P. pythagorae sp. n. The only species of Parotoplana whose karyotype is known is P. m a c ro s t y l a. The karyotype of P. pythagorae sp. n. appears very similar for number and relative size of chromosomes. However, in this species all chromosomes are isobrachial, whereas in P. macrostyla Chrom. VI is subtelocentric, with low centromeric index (Curini-Galletti et al., 1984). Diagnosis: Species of Parotoplana with a wide bursal canal, lined with a corrugated epithelium. The sclerotized apparatus of the copulatory organ consists of a stylet (93–95 μm long); two companion spines with triangular apex (96–98 μm long) and a girdle of 12 spines, provided with sickle shaped apices and subterminal, obtuse tooth (69–76 μm long). Karyotype with n = 6, and all chromosomes isobrachial.Published as part of Delogu, Valentina & Curini-Galletti, Marco, 2007, New species of the genus Parotoplana Meixner, 1938 (Proseriata, Otoplanidae) from southern Apulia (Italy), pp. 17-31 in Zootaxa 1529 on pages 18-20, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17764
Parotoplana jondelii Delogu & Curini-Galletti, 2007, sp. n.
No full textParotoplana jondelii sp. n. (Figs. 3 A–B; Figs. 7 A–B) Holotype: one whole mount (SMNH 6666). Type locality: Apulia, Italy: Santa Maria di Leuca (Lecce), cave ‘la Principessa’(lat. 39 ° 47 ’ 58.50 ”N, long. 18 ° 22 ’ 27.86 ”E), about 5 m deep in medium to coarse sand, May 2005. Additional material: two specimens from the type locality studied alive, one prepared as whole mount (CZM- 55) and one sagittally sectioned (CZM- 56) Etymology: This species is dedicated to Prof. Dr. Ulf Jondelius (Sweden) in recognition of his contribution to the study of Platyhelminthes, and for his kind patience in dealing with the enthusiasm of the first author in identifying meiofaunal taxa. Description. Holotype about 1 mm long in fixed conditions. External morphology similar to the other species of the genus, with clearly marked anterior end and fan-shaped caudal end. Limited observations of the internal anatomy could be retrieved from the poor-quality sectioned specimen. The encapsulated oval shaped brain (60 µm long) abuts on the statocyst. Rhabdoids (up to 9 µm in length) are present dorsally and ventrally at both ends of the body. The creeping sole (cilia up to 6,5 µm long) extends from the anterior end to the genital pore. The ciliated epithelium is distinctly higher than the surrounding, non-ciliated epithelium. The subepidermal longitudinal musculature is particularly well developed ventrally. The holotype showed a moderately elongate, tubiform pharynx, horizontally oriented. The other two specimens, on the contrary, showed a more typical collar-shaped pharynx. Male genital organs. With two rows of about eight testes each in front of the ovaries. The male copulatory organ consists of a sacciform seminal vesicle, a comparatively short prostatic vesicle (Fig. 3 B) lined by a ciliated epithelium, a sclerotized apparatus (Figs. 3 A; 7 A) consisting of 18 spines in both the whole mounts. Five types of spines, arranged symmetrically into a girdle, can be recognized: 1) two very narrow and straight spines, 75–79 µm long in the holotype; 2) four broad spines, 75–83 µm long, with slightly recurve, bulbous apices provided with a tooth placed at the basis of the distal third of the spine; 3) four broad spines, 70–80 µm long, narrowing distally into acute apices without any subterminal tooth; 4) two broad spines (62–65 µm long), with sickle shaped apices and marked subterminal tooth; 5) six spines similar in morphology to the previous, but distinctly smaller (53–55 µm long). In specimen CZM 55, the morphology of the spines was essentially similar, although sizes were somewhat reduced (group 1 = 60 µm; group 2 = 65 µm; group 3 = 65–67 µm; group 4 = 59–60 µm; group 5 = 52– 57 µm). In this specimen, most spines appeared feebly sclerotized basally, presumably due to an early stage of maturity. According to the position of spines in the whole mounts, spines of group 1 seem to be median, and probably act as a functional stylet; spines of group 3 appear to flank the previous ones, and the other spines are symmetrically arranged at their sides. The male antrum has a nucleated epithelium, and opens into the common atrium. Female genital organs. With two ovaries anterior to the pharynx. Two rows of numerous vitellaria are present posterior to the ovaries. In preparations of semi-squashed living specimens, a bursa provided with a distinct bursal canal was observed. In sections, the morphology of the bursal canal is obscured by the strong circular musculature that enwraps it entirely. The ovoid bursa shows dorsally a resorbiens portion. In the whole mount, the presence of numerous bursal spines (Fig. 7 B), arranged into two blocks, could be seen. These spines are sharply triangular in shape (up to 4–5 μm long), feebly sclerotized, and appear as basal lamina derivates. No bursal spines were found in CZM- 55 or in the sectioned specimen (CZM- 56). Karyotype. Chromosome number: n = 6; FN = 12. All chromosomes are isobrachial; the first three pairs are distinctly larger than the remaining pairs. The only plate suitable for karyometric analysis yielded the following data: Chrom. I = r.l.: 25.55; c.i.: 47.47 (m); Chrom. II = r.l.: 23.99; c.i.: 49.52 (m); Chrom. III = r.l.: 23.65; c.i.: 41.26 (m); Chrom. IV = r.l.: 10.4; c.i.: 33.33 (sm); Chrom. V = r.l.: 9.47; c.i.: 37.12 (sm); Chrom. VI = r.l.: 6.93; c.i.: 38.19 (m). Remarks. The limited sample of P. jondelii sp. n. appears heterogeneous. The holotype, which is presumably a mature specimen, showed an elongated pharynx, and the presence of bursal spines, characters that were absent in the other two specimens. However, CZM 55, given the incomplete sclerotization of copulatory spines, was clearly at an early phase of maturity. Furthermore, due to the contraction of the different muscles of the pharynx, a collar shaped pharynx can be held horizontally, at least for a short time (pers. obs.), and may thus not be a specific character. P. jondelii sp. n. appears nonetheless unique in the genus, for the details of its sclerotized apparatus. None of the known species, has spines as broad, or with markedly blunt apices, as the ones found in the new species. P. jondelii sp. n. is the second species of Parotoplana known with a tubiform pharynx (but see above comment). The other species, P. pacifica, was described by Ax & Ax (1967) and belongs to the species group with a central stylet, which is absent in the new species. The new species also shows the presence of bursal spines. This character is shared with two species only: P. capitata (type of the genus Parotoplana) and P. procerostyla (Ax, 1956). Both these species have sickle-shaped, slender spines; the latter, in addition, is provided with an elongate, tubular stylet. It should be however mentioned that the presence of bursal spines is not easily appreciable, except on well-squeezed mounts and the character might be more widespread than presently acknowledged. The karyotype of P. jondelii sp. n., albeit basic in number (n = 6), is nonetheless distinct for the presence of three pairs of large chromosomes. All the species with the same haploid number have only two distinctly larger pairs (Curini-Galletti et al., 1984; present paper). Diagnosis: Parotoplana provided with triangular bursal spines and with a sclerotized apparatus consisting of a girdle of 18 spines: two narrow median spines, four submedian broad spines, with slightly hooked apices, and 12 broad spines, differing for the development of subterminal teeth and the shape of the apex (blunt to hooked). Karyotype with n = 9, with three chromosome pairs markedly larger than the others.Published as part of Delogu, Valentina & Curini-Galletti, Marco, 2007, New species of the genus Parotoplana Meixner, 1938 (Proseriata, Otoplanidae) from southern Apulia (Italy), pp. 17-31 in Zootaxa 1529 on pages 23-24, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17764
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