Two New Free-Living Marine Nematode Species of the Genus <i>Haliplectus</i> Cobb, 1913 (Haliplectidae) from Mangroves of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China

oleh: Rengui Zhou, Yuzhen Chen, Yijia Shih, Yuqing Guo

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-11-01

Deskripsi

This study presents two new free-living marine nematodes, <i>Haliplectus major</i> sp. nov. and <i>Haliplectus futianisus</i> sp. nov., from a mangrove reservation in Shenzhen, China. <i>Haliplectus major</i> sp. nov. can be distinguished by its total body length of 1615–1998 µm; a cuticle annulated with eight rows of cuticle pores; amphidial fovea at 9–12 µm from the anterior end; a bipartite basal bulb with striated valve plates in both sexes; five to seven closely spaced precloacal supplements in males; a didelphic reproductive system in females, with the vulva at 49.64–52.37% of body length; and sexual dimorphism in tail shape, arcuate-conoid and 2.3–3.2 times anal body diameter long in males and elongate-conid and 3.5–4.2 times anal body diameter long in females. <i>Haliplectus futianisus</i> sp. nov. is characterized by a total body length of 574–655 µm; a cuticle annulated with eight rows of cuticle pores; amphidial fovea at 8–11 µm from the anterior end; a monopartite basal bulb with unstriated valve plates in both sexes; an absence of precloacal supplements in males; and a didelphic reproductive system in females, with the vulva at 42.33–45.63% of body length. The identification was confirmed by analyzing morphological characteristic and 18S rRNA gene sequences. The maximum likelihood (ML) topology was regarded as morphological evidence of <i>H. major</i> sp. nov. and <i>H. futianisus</i> sp. nov. being two distinct species.