Saccoglossus Schimkewitsch, 1892

Deland, C., Cameron, C. B., Rao, K. P., Ritter, W. E. & Bullock, T. H., 2010, A taxonomic revision of the family Harrimaniidae (Hemichordata: Enteropneusta) with descriptions of seven species from the Eastern Pacific, Zootaxa 2408 (1), pp. 1-30 : 4-5

Genus Saccoglossus Schimkewitsch, 1892

Dolichoglossus: Spengel, 1893

Type species. Saccoglossus kowalevskii ( Agassiz, 1873)

Diagnosis. Proboscis usually long; middorsal longitudinal groove may be present. Collar usually very short compared to proboscis. Dorsal interbranchial genital ridges and dorsal gonads absent but lateral extrabranchial genital ridges may be present. Intestinal pores often present. Perihaemal cavities always present. Peribuccal cavities usually present, but not always. Genus most importantly characterized by arrangement of longitudinal muscle fibers of proboscis in several concentric rings ( Fig. 1 A ). Many species favor quiet muddy-sandy flats not too far from the mouth of a bay, living in ‘permanent’ tubes and throwing up low conical mounds of quasi-spiral castings from the anus.

Remarks. The genus as revised above would now include the following species: S. apatensis Thomas, 1956 ; S. aulakoeis Thomas, 1968 ; S. bromophenolosus King, Giray & Kornfield, 1994 ; S. horsti Brambell & Goodhart, 1941 ; S. hwangtauensis ( Si & Kwang-Chung, 1935) , S. inhacensis ( Kapelin, 1936) , S. kowalevskii ( Agassiz, 1873) , S. madrasensis Rao, 1957 , S. mereschkowskii ( Wagner, 1885) , S. otagoensis (Benham, 1899) , S. pusillus ( Ritter, 1902) , S. ruber Tattersall, 1905 , S. sulcatus ( Spengel, 1893) and five new species collected from the Eastern Pacific that will be described in a forthcoming article on the genus.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Light micrographs of transverse sections of the proboscis of: A, Saccoglosus pusillus, showing the arrangement of the proboscis longitudinal musculature in concentric rings. B, Protoglossus mackiei n. sp., showing the arrangement of the proboscis longitudinal musculature in radial plates. C, Mesoglossus macginitiei n. gen. et n. sp., showing the diffuse arrangement of the proboscis longitudinal musculature. Abbreviations: plm, proboscis longitudinal muscles. Scale bars = 500 µm.