Description

Description: Organization and behavior. The single adult had a slender body (length 1090 µm, width 80 µm at U 32.1; body index 13.63). The rostrum is slender (78 µm long, 68 µm wide at U 4.3; rostrum index 1.15). The tail region ends in a blunt cone which contains many adhesive papillae composed of bundles of rhabdoids. Of the sensorium, apicalia 1 were 20 µm long, frontalia 51 µm, and ventralia 45 µm. Animals glide slowly, and occasionally perform peristaltic contractions. Digestive tract. The elongated mouth opening is surrounded by prepharyngeal glands. The somewhat goggle­shaped basal plate is 7.00 µm long and 26.00 µm wide (index 0.27). Its rostral edge lacks a median lobe whereas the lateral lobes are comparatively prominent. There are 11 caudo­dorsally pointing teeth of which the median tooth and the lateral­most pair are much larger than the rest. Jaws are 26.50 µm long, with a strong terminal tooth, a single, thin but broadly based dorsal tooth, and 3 delicate, equal teeth in the ventral row. The cauda is 7 µm long. Male system. The unpaired, dorsal testis extends from U 80.7 to U 87.2 where it empties into a glandular penis. The male pore is located ventrally at U 95. The testis contained 17 conuli of which two had twin cones. The largest conuli 23 µm long and 7 µm wide (conulus index 3.54). Conuli are slender, with a flat hat that takes up no more than 20 % of total conulus length, and is no wider than the cone. The cingulum beneath the hat is inconspicuous, and sometimes curved upwards. Female system. The single specimen did not have a mature egg. Located between U 75.2 and U 80.7, the soft, globular bursa contained three fused conuli, with their cones in a grainy condition.

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Gnathostomulida

Order: Bursovaginoidea

Family: Gnathostomulidae

Genus: Gnathostomula

Species: Gnathostomula salotae Sterrer, 1991