Dondersiidae, Simroth, 1893

Cobo, M. Carmen & Kocot, Kevin M., 2021, On the diversity of abyssal Dondersiidae (Mollusca: Aplacophora) with the description of a new genus, six new species, and a review of the family, Zootaxa 4933 (1), pp. 63-97 : 89

Dondersiidae sp. A

( Figure 8 , Table 2 )

Examined material. DZMB-HH-4795-05 (DZMB-Senckenberg Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologische Museum). Serial sections (12 slides) and sclerite preparations (five slides). Guinea Basin. DIVA 2 Me 63/2, area 4, station 90 (00º 40.49’N, 05º 29.71’W), 5144 m depth .

Description. Elongate animal (4.85 mm long, 0.3 mm wide in the middle region), with the anterior end slightly widened. Scaly in appearance, it is yellowish-white in 70 % ethanol with brownish spots ( Figure 8 A ). Pedal groove, pedal pit and apertures of the common atrio-buccal cavity and the terminal mantle cavity are externally visible. With leaf-shaped scales and laminar scales: 1) Leaf-shaped scales with a long and narrow acuminate end (91 to 108 μm long, 36 to 49 μm wide.; Figure 8 A-1). 2) Leaf-shaped scales slightly oval (62 to 97 μm long, 25 to 98 μm wide.; Figure 8 A-2). 3) Laminar scales (4 to 61 μm long, 7.5 to 11.5 μm wide; Figure 8 A-3, 4) that are concentrated mainly in the dorsal region.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Habitus and sclerites of the undetermined specimens. A. Dondersiidae sp. A. A1. Leaf-shaped scales with a long and narrow acuminate end. A2. Oval leaf-shaped scales. A3, A4. Laminar scales B. Dondersiidae sp. B. B1. Leaf-shaped scales B2. Asymmetric leaf-shaped scales B3. Acicular sclerites. C. Dondersiidae sp. C. C1, C2. Lanceolate leaf-shape scales C3. Rounded leaf-shaped scales C4, C5. Laminar scales. C6. Oar-shaped scales. D. Dondersiidae sp. D. D1. Leaf-shaped scales. D2. Leaf-shaped scales with a flat proximal end D3. Oval scales. D4. Solid, curved acicular sclerites.