title: A New Deep-Sea Suctorian-Nematode Epibiosis (Loricophrya-Tricoma) from the Blanes Submarine Canyon (NW Mediterranean).
abstract: During a pluri-disciplinary study carried out within the frame of the Spanish research project DOS MARES, multicore samples were collected along the Blanes submarine canyon and its adjacent open slope to study the structure and dynamics of the meiofaunal organisms, mainly nematodes. Among the 5808 nematode individuals identified, only 190 of them belonged to the genus Tricoma (Desmoscolecidae), and only two harboured epibiont suctorian ciliates. The three specimens were located near the tail of the basibionts. A careful examination of the ciliates revealed that they were suctorians, which are here described as a new species of Loricophrya, namely L. mediterranea sp. nov. The new species is characterized by having a conical, slightly elongated lorica, narrowing towards posterior end; an anterior end inward curved, surrounding the lorica opening; a body placed near the lorica opening, occupying 1/3 of the lorica length, 4-8 capitate tentacles, and a peripheral, oval to sausage-shaped macronucleus. Our findings represent the first known report of an association with a deep-sea species of Tricoma, and the first record in the Mediterranean Sea, for a species of Loricophrya. The significance of the relationships between suctorian ciliates and their host in extreme environments such as deep-sea submarine canyons is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/ José Antonio Novais, 12, 28040, Madrid, Spain. greg@bio.ucm.es.
authors.forename: Gregorio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Leborans
authors.affiliation: Department d'Ecologia Marina, Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes, CEAB-CSIC, C/ Accés a la cala St Francesc, 14, 17300, Blanes (Girona), Catalunya, Spain.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Román
authors.affiliation: Department d'Ecologia Marina, Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes, CEAB-CSIC, C/ Accés a la cala St Francesc, 14, 17300, Blanes (Girona), Catalunya, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D009348:Nematoda
keywords: Blanes canyon; Deep-sea; Epibiosis; Loricophrya mediterranea sp. nov.; NW Mediterranean Sea; Nematode; Suctorian ciliate; Tricoma