Dondersiidae, Simroth, 1893

Cobo, M. Carmen & Kocot, Kevin M., 2021, On the diversity of abyssal Dondersiidae (Mollusca: Aplacophora) with the description of a new genus, six new species, and a review of the family, Zootaxa 4933 (1), pp. 63-97 : 90

Dondersiidae sp. C

( Figure 8 , Table 2 )

Examined material. DZMB-HH-4795-08 (DZMB-Senckenberg Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologische Museum). Serial sections (eight slides) and sclerites (one stub, five slides). Guinea Basin. DIVA 2 e Me 63/2, area 4, station 90 (00º 40.49’N, 05º 29.71’W), 5144 m depth .

Description. Elongate body (3.1 mm long, 0.2 mm wide in the middle and anterior region). Specimen is significantly narrowed towards the posterior end (0.08 mm), probably due to poor fixation or death of the specimen well before fixation. It is white, slightly yellowish in 70 % ethanol ( Figure 8 C ). With four types of sclerites, including two different leaf-shaped scales: 1) Lanceolate, leaf-shape scales ( Figure 8 C-1, 2): they are the most abundant sclerites. They are long and narrow (50 to 89.5 μm long, 13.5 to 27.2 μm wide), with a truncated proximal end and a distal end that can be pointed. 2) Rounded, leaf-shaped scales ( Figure 8 C-3; 51 to 60 μm long, 20 to 25.5 μm wide). 3) Laminar scales ( Figure 8 C-4, 5) that are concentrated in the ventral and posterior region. Very narrow, almost acicular, with pointed ends (70.5 to 80.8 μm long, 6.7 to 10.5 μm wide). 4) Oar-shaped scales ( Figure 8 C-6) that are narrow and slightly pointed (55.6 to 80.3 μm long, 8.2 to 10 μm wide in the middle region, the narrow base is between 1.7 and 2 μm wide).

Figures

FIGURE 8. Habitus and sclerites of the undetermined specimens. A. Dondersiidae sp. A. A1. Leaf-shaped scales with a long and narrow acuminate end. A2. Oval leaf-shaped scales. A3, A4. Laminar scales B. Dondersiidae sp. B. B1. Leaf-shaped scales B2. Asymmetric leaf-shaped scales B3. Acicular sclerites. C. Dondersiidae sp. C. C1, C2. Lanceolate leaf-shape scales C3. Rounded leaf-shaped scales C4, C5. Laminar scales. C6. Oar-shaped scales. D. Dondersiidae sp. D. D1. Leaf-shaped scales. D2. Leaf-shaped scales with a flat proximal end D3. Oval scales. D4. Solid, curved acicular sclerites.