Corresponding author: Andrea L. Crowther (
Academic editor: Leen van Ofwegen
We describe a new species of carcinoecium-forming sea anemone,
A distinctive feature of
The genus and species
The allopatric distribution that we found for the four species of
The holotype and five paratypes of
Cnida preparations were made from the tentacles, mesenterial filaments, actinopharynx, and column by smashing tissue with water under a coverslip. Preparations were examined using differential interference (Nomarski) optics at 1000×. For each tissue type, the length and width were measured for each type of cnida. Representative cnidae were photographed using an Olympus digital camera. Histological sections were stained with Gomori trichrome (
The holotype, four paratype lots, and one voucher of
Because
Deep-sea
MTQ G57579 (one specimen) (
Type locality:
MTQ G57580 (one specimen).
Locality:
MTQ G57581 (two specimens).
Locality:
MTQ G57582 (one specimen).
Locality:
KUDIZ 003352 (one specimen).
Locality:
MTQ G64680 (four specimens).
Locality:
MTQ G58760 (one specimen).
Locality:
Longitudinal section through tentacle of
Endodermal circumscribed marginal sphincter muscles of
Mesenterial musculature and fertility of
Cnidae of all four species of
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Tentacles | Basitrich ( |
26.6-38.8 X 2.6-4.6 n=63 N=6/6 [++] | 27.9-36.1 X 3.1-3.9 n=43 | 27.1-30.3 X 2.5-3.3 n=11 | 29.8-39.7 X 2.5-3.7 n=70 N=6/6 |
Basitrich ( |
(11.9) 14.2-19.9 X 2.6-3.4 n=12 N=5/6 [ – ] | 9.9-16.1 X 1.6-2.5 n=11 N=3/6 | |||
Spirocyst ( |
17.9-39.8 (46.3) X 2.2-4.6 n=51 N=7/7 [+] | (25.4) 28.7-44.3 X 2.9-4.1 (4.9) n=40 | 23.8-39.4 X 2.7-3.3 n=10 | 21.1-55.8 X 2.5-3.7 n=63 N=6/6 | |
Actinopharynx | Basitrich ( |
27.8-37.1 X 2.9-4.3 n=61 N=6/6 [++] | (26.2) 29.5-37.7 X 2.9-4.1 n= 38 | 27.1-31.2 X 2.5-3.3 n=10 | 26.0-37.2 X 2.5-3.7 n=59 N=5/5 |
Basitrich ( |
19.9-21.2 X 3.3 n=9 N=1/6 [ – ] | 17.2-21.3 X 2.5-3.1 n=9 | |||
Basitrich ( |
6.4-11.2 X 1.9-2.8 n=20 N=1/6 [ – ] | ||||
Column | Basitrich ( |
19.9-30.5 X 2.6-4.1 n=65 N=7/7 [++] | 29.5-36.1 X 2.9-3.5 n=24 | 23.0-28.7 X 2.7-3.3 n=12 | 21.1-33.5 X 2.5-3.7 n=46 N=5/5 |
Basitrich ( |
7.3-9.2 X 1.9-3.6 n=10 N=1/6 [ – ] | ||||
Mesenterial Filaments | Basitrich ( |
27.5-37.1 X 4.4-6.7 n=25 N=6/6 [++] | (25.4) 27.9-32.8 X 4.1-5.5 n=14 | 28.5-37.2 X 4.7-6.0 n=34 N=5/7 | |
Basitrich ( |
28.5-33.2 X 2.8-3.8 n=18 N=5/6 [ – ] | 29.5-36.1 X 2.5-3.9 n=21 | 28.5-37.2 X 2.5-3.5 n=11 N=3/7 | ||
Basitrich ( |
15.9-21.4 X 2.1-3.1 n=51 N=6/6 [++] | 15.6-23.0 X 2.1-3.3 n=58 | 14.8-18.0 X 2.1-2.5 n=8 | 12.4-16.1 X 1.9-3.1 n=10 N=4/7 | |
Basitrich ( |
7.9-11.9 X 1.9-2.9 n=21 N=3/6 [+] | ||||
Microbasic |
21.2-30.0 X 4.4-7.9 n=45 N=5/6 [++] | 21.3-29.5 X 3.9-5.7 n=27 | 18.9-23.0 X 4.1-5.7 n=12 | 23.6-32.2 X 3.5-6.2 n=50 N=7/7 | |
Source: | This study |
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Cnidae of
Distribution of species of
This species is named for R Alastair Birtles of James Cook University, Townsville, who, with the late P Arnold (MTQ) and M Pichon (Australian Institute of Marine Science), collected this species and photographed it alive.
WAM Z50046 (one specimen).
Locality:
WAM Z50047 (one specimen).
Locality:
WAM Z50049 (one specimen).
Locality:
WAM Z50050 (two specimens).
Locality:
WAM Z50058 (two specimens).
Locality:
Morphological, biogeographic, and ecological attributes of all four species of
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endodermal, circumscribed, palmate | endodermal, circumscribed, pinnate | endodermal, circumscribed, pinnate | endodermal, circumscribed, pinnate |
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differ around oral disc | differ aroundoral disc | differ around oral disc | marginal greater than oral |
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15-40 | ~20 | 15-30 | to 55 |
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NE Australia | Guam and Hawai’i | E Africa | NW Australia |
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590–964 | 402–797 | 818 | 320–508 |
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mud, rock | sand | not recorded | mud |
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Gross morphology of
The four species of
Carcinoecium-forming anemones of genera characterized by a mesogleal sphincter muscle are known from the Atlantic: for example,
A specimen in the Invertebrate Zoology collection of WAM (catalog number Z31227) of an anemone that laid down some chitinous material on the gastropod shell to which it is attached is from the same region and depth as
Hermit crabs form symbioses with about 100 species of cnidarians (
Many carcineocium-forming species occur in the deep sea, where calcium carbonate (the mineral of mollusc shells) is highly soluble (
Each species of
We describe
We thank Alastair Birtles and the late Peter Arnold for collecting specimens, Paul Muir and Susan Curnock for assistance in the preparation of this manuscript, and James Cook University Histology Laboratory for use of the facilities. We thank Jane Fromont and Mark Salotti from WAM and Steve Coles and Holly Bolick from the Bishop Museum, Hawai’i for specimen loans. This research was made possible with funding from ABRS to CCW and DGF (grant 284–83).