Sabatieria Rouville 1903

Leduc, Daniel, 2013, Seven new species and one new species record of Sabatieria (Nematoda: Comesomatidae) from the continental slope of New Zealand, Zootaxa 3693 (1), pp. 1-35 : 3

Sabatieria Rouville 1903

Diagnosis (from Jensen (1979a)) Cuticle (usually) punctated, lateral differentiation of larger regular or irregular punctations often present; head sensillae in three distinct crowns, with third crown of setae longer than those of second crown; anterior buccal cavity cup-shaped, posterior buccal cavity narrow, not cuticularised; spicules usually short and arcuate; gubernaculum with dorso-caudal or caudal apophyses.

Type species. Sabatieria cettensis Rouville 1903

Remarks. Sabatieria is a relatively large genus with over 50 species currently considered valid (Fadeeva &Belogurov 1984; Tchesunov 2000; Botelho et al. 2009). In his review of the genus, Platt (1985) divided Sabatieria into five groups, viz., the praedatrix , pulchra , celtica , ornata , and armata groups. The eight species described herein belong to the praedatrix , pulchra , and celtica groups. Species of the praedatrix group are characterised by simple tubular or pore-like pre-cloacal supplements and straight gubernacular apophyses, whilst species of the pulchra group are characterised by pre-cloacal supplements usually conspicuous and relatively few (5–9) in number, with anterior-most supplements situated more closely together than posterior supplements, characteristic gubernaculum median pieces, short paired cervical setae, and often relatively small size. Species of the celtica group are characterised by curved gubernacular apophyses, conspicuous supplements, fovea amphidialis (usually) with three turns, and relatively large and stout body. The celtica and ornata groups are very similar but species of the ornata group can be differentiated by the presence of a posterior group of more closely situated precloacal supplements. The armata group is characterised by long cephalic (>1.7 head diameter) and subcephalic setae, and slender bodies (a ratio usually greater than 65).

Some controversy remains surrounding the status of S. mortenseni Ditlevsen, 1921 ( pulchra group). This species, originally described from Auckland Islands specimens, is characterised by lack of cuticle punctations. This unusual feature was confirmed following observation with an immersion lens of sixteen males (Ditlevsen 1921). Pastor de Ward (1984), however, described S. mortenseni specimens from Argentina with conspicuous cuticle punctations and Vincx (1986) later synonymised S. mortenseni with S. punctata . More recently, Chen & Vincx (2000) described S. mortenseni specimens from Chile lacking cuticle punctations and argued that the specimens described by Pastor de Ward (1984) do not belong to S. mortenseni due to the presence of cuticle punctations in the Argentinian specimens. Sabatieria annulata Leduc and Gwyther 2008 , which lacks cuticle punctations, was recently described from southern New Zealand and is virtually identical to the original description by Ditlevsen (1921), except for shorter body length (1175–1512 vs 1900 m) and lower c values (11–12 vs 16). Sabatieria annulata is therefore considered to be synonymous with S. mortenseni , whilst S. mortenseni is considered distinct from S. punctata due to the presence of cuticle punctations in the latter. Sabatieria mortenseni was also recorded from the REGAB cold seep in the Gulf of Guinea by Van Gaever et al. (2009), but no morphological data (e.g., cuticle ornamentation) were provided.

Sabatieria kolaensis Ssaweljev, 1912 was considered invalid by Platt (1985), but was re-established by Tchesunov (2000) based on a detailed description of specimens from the White Sea. Sabatieria wieseri Wieser, 1954 was first established as species inquirendae by Platt (1985), and was not included in his list of valid species. While Platt’s review of Sabatieria was in press, Pastor de Ward (1984) described specimens which she ascribed to S. heterura Cobb, 1898 , which Platt (1985) considered invalid due to the poor original description. In a note added in proof, Platt (1985) ascribed the specimens described by Pastor de Ward (1984) to S. wieseri (Wieser, 1954) , which led him to consider the species as valid. Sabatieria wieseri and S. kolaensis were therefore included below in the list of valid species.