Fernandez-Leborans Gregorio, Román Sara, Martin Daniel
Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/ José Antonio Novais, 12, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
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.
Microb Ecol. 2017 Jul;74(1):15-21. doi: 10.1007/s00248-016-0923-5. Epub 2017 Jan 13.
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.
在西班牙研究项目“双海”框架内开展的一项多学科研究中，沿着布拉内斯海底峡谷及其相邻的开阔斜坡采集了多核样本，以研究小型底栖生物（主要是线虫）的结构和动态。在鉴定出的5808个线虫个体中，只有190个属于三孔线虫属（Desmoscolecidae），并且只有两个寄附有体表吸管虫类纤毛虫。这三个标本位于宿主尾部附近。对纤毛虫的仔细检查表明它们是吸管虫，在此被描述为洛里纤毛虫属的一个新物种，即地中海洛里纤毛虫（Loricophrya mediterranea sp. nov.）。新物种的特征是具有一个圆锥形、略细长的兜甲，向后端逐渐变窄；前端向内弯曲，环绕兜甲开口；身体位于兜甲开口附近，占据兜甲长度的1/3，有4 - 8条头状触手，以及一个位于周边的椭圆形至香肠形的大核。我们的发现代表了首次已知的三孔线虫深海物种关联报告，以及地中海首次记录的洛里纤毛虫属物种。文中讨论了吸管虫类纤毛虫与其宿主在深海海底峡谷等极端环境中的关系的重要性。
