Grania capensis Prantoni, Wit & Erséus, 2016, SP. NOV.
Creators: name: Prantoni, Alessandro Lívio
name: Wit, Pierre De
name: Erséus, Christer
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Annelida
Clitellata
Enchytraeida
Enchytraeidae
Grania
Grania capensis

description: GRANIA CAPENSIS SP. NOV.  FIGURE 5  
 Holotype   
 SAMC A82474, CE14015, whole-mounted, sexually mature specimen, with 11 midbody segments amputated, from Glencairn Heights, False Bay, City of Cape Town, Province of the Western Cape, South Africa, 34°09′29″S, 18°26′01″E, lower intertidal rocky pool. Collected by N. Bekkouche, 15 December 2011. COI barcode sequence, GenBank acc. no. KT428104; for other sequence data, see Table 1.   
 Etymology   
 Named capensis for the Cape Town area. Paratype   
 SAMC A82475, CE14016, one whole-mounted, sexually mature specimen, ten middle body segments amputated, from type locality, N. Bekkouche, 15 December 2011. For COI barcode of paratype, see Table 1.   
 Description   
 Body> 9.2 and 9.9 mm long, 49 and 63 segments (n = 2) (including segments used for DNA analysis), 0.22 and 0.24 mm wide at segment III, 0.20 and 0.26 mm wide at segment XII (n = 2). Prostomium rounded, 83 and 120 μm long, 100 and 110 μm wide; epidermis 17 and 12 μm thick (n = 2), not notably reduced at front tip. Ventral chaetae from segment IV, lateral chaetae occasionally present in segment VII (n = 1), but otherwise from segments XXI or XXII. Chaetae (Fig. 5A) 45– 90 μm long, shaft straight, 5.0–7.5 μm thick at midpoint, L-shaped, proximally curving into an 11–25 μm long foot with indistinct heel. Chaetal index (Rota & Erséus, 2003) 4.42 ± 0.88 (n = 4). Free chaetae sometimes present, scattered in coelomic cavity. Epidermal gland cells inconspicuous. Clitellum not well developed, 12.5 μm thick, extending from segment XII to twothirds of segment XIII, formed by more or less regular transverse rows of granular cells, absent between male pores, hyaline cells not observed. Spermathecal pores in lateral lines, slightly posterior to 4/5. Male pores ventrolateral in mid-XII. Female pores not observed.   
 Brain posteriorly indented. Head organ (sensu Rota & Erséus, 1996) absent. Pharyngeal glands in segments IV–VI; dorsal lobes present in segment IV (one pair), in segment V (one pair), and in segment VI (one pair), ventral lobes present in segment IV (one pair), in segment V (two pairs), and in segment VI (two pairs); glands not connected dorsally. Nephridia not observed. Chloragogen cells not observed. Dorsal blood vessel originating in segments XIX (paratype) or XX (holotype). Coelomocytes not observed in available specimens. Sperm sac extending into segments XVI–XVII. Egg sac not developed. Sperm funnels cylindrical, about three times longer than wide (Fig. 5D). Vasa deferentia 15 μm wide, internally ciliated, coiled, reaching at least segment XV. Penial apparatus type 1 (sensu Coates, 1984), consisting of a glandular bulb, 75–100 μm long, 75–87 μm wide (n = 2) next to epidermal invaginations; stylet absent (Fig. 5C). Midventral copulatory gland (in segment XIV) present. Ectal duct of spermatheca short, thick, 53–75 μm long, 39–55 μm wide, muscular, slightly curved, and narrowing towards pore. No gland at pore. Spermathecal ampulla 57–75 μm long, 75– 87 μm wide, pear-shaped, attached to oesophagus in posterior half of segment V. Sperm rings few, maximally 15 μm wide (Fig. 5B).   
 Remarks   
 Grania capensis sp. nov. differs from its South African congeners by the shape of the spermathecae, the distribution of the lateral chaetae (see remarks for G. bekkouchei sp. nov. and G. cryptica sp. nov. above, and G. simonae sp. nov. below), and wide vasa deferentia; the latter are 15.0 μm wide in G. capensis sp. nov., but only 7.5–10.0 μm wide in the others. The spermathecae of G. capensis sp. nov. are pear- or heart-shaped, resembling those of the South Atlantic species G. stephensoniana (see Rota & Erséus, 1997), but these two species are distinguished by the length of the sperm funnel (about three times longer than wide in G. capensis sp. nov., and six or seven times longer than wide in G. stephensoniana).   
 Although geographically distant, two species from the north-east Atlantic, Grania roscoffensis Lasserre, 1967 and Grania pusilla Erséus, 1974, also share some characteristics with G. capensis sp. nov., such as the spermathecal morphology, the length of the sperm funnel, and the distribution of the lateral chaetae. This South African species is distinct from all of these, however, by the simple penial bulb (the other species have a stylet), and the presence of a midventral copulatory gland in segment XIV (absent in the others).
description: Published as part of Prantoni, Alessandro Lívio, Wit, Pierre De & Erséus, Christer, 2016, First reports of Grania (Clitellata: Enchytraeidae) from Africa and South America: molecular phylogeny and descriptions of nine new species, pp. 485-510 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 176 (3) on pages 493-495, DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12333, http://zenodo.org/record/4720622