Epiphanes desmeti, Rougier & Pourriot, 2006

Rougier, Claude & Pourriot, Roger, 2006, On some rare and new species of rotifers (Digononta, Bdelloida; Monogononta, Ploima and Flosculariaceae) in the Kaw River estuary (French Guiana), Zoosystema 28 (1), pp. 5-16 : 9-10

Epiphanes desmeti n. sp.

(Fig. 3)

TYPE LOCALITY. — Kaw River ( French Guiana), estuary station (E).

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype: ♀ mounted on a slide ( MNHN AM 874 ); paratypes: 10 ♀♀ preserved in an Eppendorf tube ( MNHN AM 870 ).

DIAGNOSIS. — Small species with a conical body that is prolonged by a foot having two equal toes. The trophi are of the malleate type with 10 to 14 teeth in the uncus. The three first teeth have a jointed base.

MEASUREMENTS (in µm). — Length of the body 140 to 200; foot 31.2-36.4; toes 15.6-18.2; unci length 20.8.

OCCURRENCE. — This species was encountered at very low numbers at the three sampling stations (Fig. 1), during spring tide as well as during neap tide. The African specimens of E. desmeti n. sp., collected by De Smet in a small, polluted pond (“manioc retting, washing and bathing”), apparently show a predilection for organically loaded water, which is also the case in French Guiana. Epiphanes desmeti n. sp. could be a tropical vicariant of E. senta (O. F. Müller, 1773) .

DESCRIPTION

Conical body with an enlarged anterior part (112 µm) that progressively tapers towards the foot. The foot is composed of three segments, the third being the longest. Two equal toes are almost as long as the last foot segment. The integument is soft. Despite the absence of a true lorica, some specimens were fully extended in the preserved condition. The stout toes are equally long, elongate-conical. Two lateral tentacles are located just above the first foot pseudosegment. The corona is composed of two parts that appear spiral when spread out, with a medial hump bearing a frontal tentacle or sensory seta. The mastax (trophi malleate) relates to the genus Epiphanes . The unci have 10 to 12 teeth, with the first three fused at their base as figured by De Smet (1988, 1989).

DISCUSSION

To our knowledge, De Smet (1988, 1989) provides the only description of a very similar specimen from Kiyendi in the Bas-Zaïre (now Democratic Republic of Congo), but with 14 teeth in the uncus. According to the mastax type, the author ranks it without any doubt in the genus Epiphanes . All other species of similar morphology (conical body with short foot and toes) have less than seven uncus teeth ( Koste 1978). Berzins (1982b) described un- der Veltae mesembrinus, an “odd-looking” form of Epiphanes from Madagascar, which differs from our species by its larger size, longer and asymmetrical toes (as shown in Table 1), and with the first foot pseudosegment being the longest (versus the third one here).

Family FLOSCULARIIDAE Harring, 1913