Chordodes caledoniensis ( Villot, 1874 ) Römer, 1896

Schmidt-Rhaesa, Andreas & Karraker, Nancy E., 2017, Nematomorpha from Hong Kong and description of a new species from Malaysia, Zootaxa 4238 (3), pp. 395-405 : 398

Chordodes caledoniensis ( Villot, 1874) Römer, 1896

( Figure 2 C–E)

Material examined. One female from Peel Rise stream in Aberdeen Country Park, Hong Kong (UTM Zone 50Q, 2464218N/206695E), elevation 172 m. Collected by N.E. Karraker on July 2, 2012. Deposited in the Zoological Museum Hamburg, accession numbers V13394 .

Description. The specimen is 290 mm long and has a diameter of 1.7 mm. The body color is medium brown and has a strong pattern of darker patches (“leopard pattern”). Simple areoles are rounded and have tiny “knobs” on the surface ( Fig. 2 D). Others, slightly larger and more elevated, have a smooth surface; these may represent bulging areoles ( Fig. 2 C). Tubercle areoles are present, and thorn areoles are very rare, but present. Crowned areole clusters are composed of a pair of crowned areoles with short apical filaments (<15 µm), surrounded by 8–12 broad and round circumcluster areoles with a smooth surface ( Fig. 2 C, D). On both sides along the ventral midline are crowned areoles with long (>100 µm) apical filaments ( Fig. 2 E).

Remarks. The described structure of the cuticle corresponds best to the description of Chordodes caledoniensis . This species was described by Villot (1874) from New Caledonia and reinvestigated by Dorier (1946). Both Villot and Dorier included only drawings of the cuticle. Especially the larger, round areoles among the simple areoles and the broad, round shape of the circumcluster areoles correspond well between the drawings and the Hong Kong specimen. Additionally, crowned areoles have very short bristles in both specimens. Thorn areoles are not described from the New Caledonia specimen, but as they are very rare in the Hong Kong specimen, they may have been overlooked. The fine “knobs” on the surface of the simple areoles is not described from the New Caledonia specimen, but this may be due to not using SEM. Therefore, with minor differences that could be due to observation techniques, the Hong Kong specimen fits to the description of C. caledoniensis .

Figures

FIGURE 2. A, B. Chordodes bipilus (V 13393). A. Cuticular structures showing crowned areole cluster, two types of simple areoles (sar 1 and sar 2), thorn (thar) and tubercle (tuar) areoles. Unlabelled circle shows branching of apical filaments in the crowned areoles. B. Magnification of crowned areole cluster, unlabelled circle see A. C – E. Chordodes caledoniensis (V 13394). C. Overview on the cuticle showing simple areoles and clusters of crowned areoles with crowned areoles (crar) and circumcluster areoles (ccar). D. Magnification of crowned areole cluster. Arrows show simple areoles with “ knobby ” surface. E. Crowned areoles with long apical filaments along both sides of the ventral midline (vml).