Abstract
A new species of Carcinonemertes, C. pinnotheridophila, is described and illustrated. The worms were found in the pinnotherid crab Pinnixa chaetopterana collected from the coasts of New Jersey, North Carolina and Florida. The anatomy of the new species is compared and contrasted with that of other members of the genus Carcinonemertes and an emended generic diagnosis is provided. The nemerteans only inhabit female hosts, crabs being infested with one or two mature female worms but with no more than one ensheathed in each branchial chamber; one or more smaller male nemerteans may be associated with each female. Sheaths are attached to the medial portion of the host branchial exoskeleton, and project through an opening in the floor of the chamber to exit via another aperture in the sternum; the anterior part of the sheath opens in the excurrent canal of the branchial chamber. Female worms cement their oval egg sacs on the pleopods to which the crab's eggs are also attached. Attachment, development and hatching of both host and symbiont eggs are synchronous. The incidence of infestation, reproductive potential of the nemertean, damage to its host and tolerance of the crab's growth cycles are described.
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McDermott, J.J., Gibson, R. Carcinonemertes pinnotheridophila sp. nov. (Nemertea, Enopla, Carcinonemertidae) from the branchial chambers of Pinnixa chaetopterana (Crustacea, Decapoda, Pinnotheridae): description, incidence and biological relationships with the host. Hydrobiologia 266, 57–80 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00013359
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00013359