Gyratrix hermaphroditus Ehrenberg, 1831

Willems, Wim R., Reygel, Patrick, Steenkiste, Niels Van, Tessens, Bart & Artois, Tom J., 2017, Kalyptorhynchia (Platyhelminthes: Rhabdocoela) from KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), with the description of six new species, Zootaxa 4242 (3), pp. 441-466 : 453

Gyratrix hermaphroditus Ehrenberg, 1831 species complex

New localities. iSimangaliso Wetland Park: Eastern Shores , Mission Rocks (28°16’49.5’’S, 32°29’06.1’’E), on small red algae from a sandy shallow rock pool in the higher eulittoral of a highly-exposed tidal area with a sandstone terrace covered with barnacles, mussels, limpets, corals, tunicates and algae, December 5, 2009 ; same locality, on red algae, December 12, 2009 ; same locality, in sand from a swirl hole in mid-eulittoral, December 12, 2009 ; Sodwana Bay, Jesser Point (lighthouse) (27°32'28.4"S, 32°40'47.9"E) highly-exposed, steep beach, on green algae from swirl holes in rocky plateau in mid-eulittoral, December 10, 2009 ; Kosi Bay estuary, eastern shore of main lake, water plants, salinity 3–4‰, December 15, 2009 (collected by Xander Combrink).

Known distribution. Cosmopolitan and euryhaline, found from pure marine to pure limnic habitats.

Material. Several specimens observed at each location, 14 specimens collected and preserved for DNAanalysis: Mission Rocks, on red algae, 1 specimen; Mission Rocks , in sand, 4 specimens ; Jesser Point , 6 specimens (including one yellow) ; Kosi Bay, 3 specimens (see Tessens 2012).

Remarks. Morphological, karyological and molecular research by (among others) Curini-Galletti & Puccinelli (1989, 1990, 1994, 1998), Puccinelli & Curini-Galletti (1987), Puccinelli et al. (1990), Timoshkin et al. (2004), and, more recently, Tessens (2012) have shown that this "species" is a large complex of cryptic species. The molecular analysis by Tessens (2012), including marine and limnic specimens of Gyratrix Ehrenberg, 1831 from all continents, reveals several clades, which can be distinguished from each other by subtle differences in the construction of stylet and sheath. The South African specimens are attributed to different clades and morphotypes. For more information, refer to Tessens (2012).