Xenotrichula intermedia Remane, 1934

Chatterjee, Tapas & Todaro, M. Antonio, 2021, An annotated checklist of the chaetonotidan Gastrotricha from India, Zootaxa 5027 (3), pp. 332-350 : 345

Xenotrichula intermedia Remane, 1934

= Xenotrichula beauchampi Lévi, 1950

Records from India. ANDHRA PRADESH: Visakhapatnam (Waltair)— Ganapati & Rao (1967), Rao & Ganapati 1968; GENERAL RECORD: Naidu & Rao (2004).

Habitat (as in Indian records). Marine; littoral, fine sand.

Distribution. Putatively cosmopolitan.

Remarks. In India the species has been reported twice; however, only Ganapati & Rao (1967) report morphometric data. In particular, they indicated for their specimens a body length of 180 μm excluding the furcal branches, which measured 55 μm in length. According to these authors, their specimens resemble most closely to the speci- mens from Roscoff described as X.beauchampi by Levi (1950). Currently, the latter species is considered a junior synonym of X. intermedia (see Hummon & Todaro 2010 for details). We would like to emphasize that while the body of the Indian specimens may not differ in length from that of other populations, the furcal appendances appear much longer (55 μm India vs e.g., up to 36 Italy, up to 37 μm Virginia, up to 38 Florida, Todaro et al. 1996; see also Ruppert 1979 for additional data). Regardless, Todaro et al. (1996), suggested on molecular grounds that the cosmopolitan taxon X. intemedia may in fact include a group of several cryptic species with a narrower geographic range. Furthermore, Leasi & Todaro (2008) based on confocal microscopy found a different muscle organization in specimens putatively belonging to geographically disjunct populations of X. intermedia . In this scenario, it is our opinion that X. intermedia Remane, 1934 should not be considered part of the Indian fauna. Very likely the Indian specimens from Visakhapatnam (=Waltair) currently affiliated to this taxon actually belong to a new species, but it is necessary to investigate them further to give a satisfactory description of the new species.