Myzostoma indocuniculus Summers, Al-Hakim & Rouse, 2014, n. sp.
Creators: name: Summers, Mindi M.
name: Al-Hakim, Iin Inayat
name: Rouse, Greg W.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Annelida
Polychaeta
Myzostomida
Myzostomidae
Myzostoma
Myzostoma indocuniculus

description: Myzostoma indocuniculus n. sp. Summers, Al-Hakim & Rouse
Fig. 4 J–K
Holotype: MZB Pol. 0 0 129 (1 spm: in 70% ethanol after formalin fixation). Mios Kon, Raja Ampat, Indonesia (0°29'55.54"S, 130°43'38.14"E), less than 20 m. Collected using scuba on 24 October 2013 by MMS and GWR.
Host. Clarkcomanthus alternans (Carpenter) (Comatulidae, Comatulida, Crinoidea). SIO-BIC E6161. Genbank (COI—KM491779).
Paratypes: SIO-BIC A3763 paragenophores (2 spms: 1—in 70% ethanol after formalin fixation, 1—95% ethanol). Genbank (COI—KM014209). Same host and locality.
Etymology. Named for the type locality in Indonesia and the ‘bunny-ear’ caudal processes—a feature shared with its closest relatives Myzostoma cuniculus Eeckhaut et al., 1998 and M. pseudocuniculus Lanterbecq & Eeckhaut 2003.
Diagnosis and description. Holotype body oval, separated posteriorly into two broad ‘ear-shaped’ caudal processes, slightly longer than length of main body (Fig. 4 J). Length ~ 2.2 mm, width ~ 1.5 mm following fixation. Caudal processes twice as long as wide. Two long posterior cirri on each caudal process of holotype [2–4 observed on paratypes]. Main body has scalloped margin with 18 cirri, first and last pair very long, second pair long, pairs 3–8 short (Fig. 4 K). Mouth and cloaca terminal, cloaca between caudal appendages. Five pairs of parapodia. Color dark red-brown in life, color faded in preservative.
Remarks. Two other species have ‘ear-shaped’ caudal processes. Myzostoma cuniculus Eeckhaut et al., 1998 has been recorded from Hansa Bay, Papua New Guinea and McCluer Islands, Australia, associated with Clarkcomanthus albinotus Rowe et al., Clarkcomanthus littoralis Rowe et al. (likely = C. albinotus, see Summers et al. (in prep )), and Comanthus wahlbergii (Müller) (Eeckhaut et al. 1998). Myzostoma pseudocuniculus Lanterbecq & Eeckhaut, 2003 was described from Toliara, Madagascar on Comanthus sp. aff. wahlbergii (later reported as Comanthus parvicirrus by the original authors in Lanterbecq et al. (2006)). These two species and Myzostoma indocuniculus n. sp. formed a well-supported clade in the molecular phylogeny of Summers & Rouse (2014).
Myzostoma indocuniculus n. sp. is distinguished from both M. cuniculus and M. pseudocuniculus by molecular data and occupied host. In addition, Myzostoma indocuniculus n. sp. differs from M. cuniculus by the presence of cirri on the caudal processes (caudal processes acirrate in M. cuniculus) and three pairs of long cirri on the trunk (M. cuniculus has 20 trunk cirri, all approximately equal in size). It can be distinguished from M. pseudocuniculus by its elongate form, longer and more developed caudal processes, and uniform color. Eeckhaut et al. (1998) also reported specimens of four undescribed species close to M. cuniculus from Okinawa, Enewatak Atoll, and southern Papua New Guinea. The description of those specimens does not match Myzostoma indocuniculus n. sp.
description: Published as part of Summers, Mindi M., Al-Hakim, Iin Inayat & Rouse, Greg W., 2014, Turbo-taxonomy: 21 new species of Myzostomida (Annelida), pp. 301-344 in Zootaxa 3873 (4) on page 313, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3873.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/252208