Bruunellia, Zenkevitch, 1966

Biseswar, Ramlall, 2006, Additions to the deep-sea echiuran (Echiura) fauna of the North-East Atlantic, Zoosystema 28 (4), pp. 853-864 : 863-864

Bruunellia sp.

( Fig. 4C )

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Porcupine Abyssal Plain, BEN- GAL 5, Discovery 231, stn 13368#47, 48°51.63’N, 16°25.18’W, 4844 m, 16.III.1998, 1 ♀.

DESCRIPTION

Colour of proboscis and trunk is cream in preserved specimen. Trunk is oval ( Fig. 4C ), 1 mm long and 0.4 mm at broadest part. Proboscis almost as long as trunk, round in transverse section and without ventral groove ( Fig. 4C ). Mouth located at base of proboscis. Integument is smooth, thin and transparent, coils of gut visible. Ventral setae absent.

Internally, there is a single, tubular gonoduct on right side of nerve cord with basally located gonostome. Gut contents moulded into oval faecal pellets. Cloacal bulb is present. Anal vesicles not seen, probably damaged.

REMARKS

The present specimen is extremely small with a trunk length of only 1 mm and it seems very likely that it is a juvenile. This specimen has been assigned to the genus Bruunellia on account of the structure of the proboscis which is round in cross-section. There is only one species in the genus Bruunellia , namely, B. bandae described by Zenkevitch (1966). The original description provides no information on the gonoducts, anal vesicles and blood vascular system. A detailed study of additional material in the future will shed more light on its taxonomic position.

Figures

FIG. 4. — A, Prometor sp., lateral view of anterior part of female; B, Alomasoma sp., ventral view of female; C, Bruunellia sp., ventral view of female. Abbreviations: pr, proboscis; se, seta. Scale bars: A, C, 0.5 mm; B, 1 mm.