Filling the Gondwana gaps: new species and new reports of Beatogordius Heinze, 1934 (Nematomorpha) from Australia and Madagascar.
We describe two new species of Beatogordius Heinze, 1934 (Nematomorpha), B. australiensis and B. lineatus, from Queensland, Australia. One further species, B. abbreviatus (Villot, 1874), which was known from Reunion, is reported from Madagascar. These new reports extend the range of Beatogordius from Africa and South America to include Madagascar and Australia. Beatogordius was likely distributed over the Gondwana continent prior to the separation of continental plates in the Mesozoic. This extends the existence of the taxon Nematomorpha, which was only known from young brown coal and amber, into the Mesozoic. Adhesive warts, structures anterior of the cloacal opening in males of B. abbreviatus, were originally described as characteristic structures of Gordionus Müller, 1927, but their occurrence in B. abbreviatus and one South American species indicates a wider distribution of this character.
Schmidt-Rhaesa
Andreas
A
Zoomorphology and Systematics, Department of Biology, University of Bielefeld, PO Box 100131, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany.
Bryant
Malcom S
MS
D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D003058:Cockroaches / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D006376:Helminths / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008270:Madagascar; D008297:Male