Bradynectes ensifer n. sp. (Platyhelminthes: Macrostomorpha) from North Carolina, USA.

Bradynectes ensifer is a new species of Macrostomorpha from shallow subtidal sediment in Bogue Inlet, NC, USA. It differs primarily from all other named members of the genus in the radically different shape of its copulatory stylet. We also consider historical records of currently unnamed specimens with similar stylet morphology collected from the NC coast by the late Dr. Reinhard M. Rieger and his students.

Nourished, Exposed Beaches Exhibit Altered Sediment Structure and Meiofaunal Communities.

To retain recreational uses and shoreline protection, a large proportion of ocean beaches have been, and continue to be, nourished. Adding sand from subtidal and terrestrial sources to nourish beaches rarely re-creates the original sediment structure of the beach. Numerous studies have demonstrated that meiofaunal communities are altered by changes in sediment composition in low-energy substrates, therefore, we have explored whether beach nourishment has affected exposed, ocean beach meiofaunal communities. Since the early 2000s, we have conducted a series of sampling and experimental studies on meiofauna and sediments on nourished beaches in coastal North Carolina USA that had been sampled previously in the early 1970s, prior to any beach nourishment. Most of our studies consider meiofauna at the level of major taxa only. However, a few studies examine free-living flatworm (turbellarian) species in detail because of the existence of historical studies examining this group. Comparison of contemporary results to historical data and of heavily nourished versus lightly nourished beaches reveals extensive changes to beach sediment structure and meiofaunal community composition, indicating that the beaches are a more heterogeneous habitat than in the past. The effects of these substantial physical and biological changes to the production of beach ecosystem services are unlikely to be inconsequential.

The curious and neglected soft-bodied meiofauna: Rouphozoa (Gastrotricha and Platyhelminthes).

Gastrotricha and Platyhelminthes form a clade called Rouphozoa. Representatives of both taxa are main components of meiofaunal communities, but their role in the trophic ecology of marine and freshwater communities is not sufficiently studied. Traditional collection methods for meiofauna are optimized for Ecdysozoa, and include the use of fixatives or flotation techniques that are unsuitable for the preservation and identification of soft-bodied meiofauna. As a result, rouphozoans are usually underestimated in conventional biodiversity surveys and ecological studies. Here, we give an updated outline of their diversity and taxonomy, with some phylogenetic considerations. We describe successfully tested techniques for their recovery and study, and emphasize current knowledge on the ecology, distribution and dispersal of freshwater gastrotrichs and microturbellarians. We also discuss the opportunities and pitfalls of (meta)barcoding studies as a means of overcoming the taxonomic impediment. Finally, we discuss the importance of rouphozoans in aquatic ecosystems and provide future research directions to fill in crucial gaps in the biology of these organisms needed for understanding their basic role in the ecology of benthos and their place in the trophic networks linking micro-, meio- and macrofauna of freshwater ecosystems.

Structure of the male copulatory apparatus in Prognathorhynchus busheki (Platyhelminthes, Kalyptorhynchia).

Gnathorhynchidae is a diverse taxon of predatory eukalyptorhynch flatworms characterized by an armed proboscis. Their present taxonomy is not concordant with what we know of their phylogeny. Further progress in this area is hindered by a lack of information concerning their morphology. As recent studies have shown, a historical reliance on live observations for species descriptions has resulted in a number of errors and omissions. Here, we redescribe the anatomy of the male copulatory organ of Prognathorhynchus busheki using transmission-electron and confocal microscopy, correcting several errors in the original description. Furthermore, we use these results to update our understanding of the anatomy and evolution of male copulatory organs in Gnathorhynchidae and in Platyhelminthes more generally.

Evolution and Functional Morphology of the Proboscis in Kalyptorhynchia (Platyhelminthes).

Predatory flatworms belonging to the taxon Kalyptorhynchia are characterized by an anterior muscular proboscis that they use to seize prey. In many cases, the proboscis is armed with hooks, derived either from the extracellular matrix that surrounds the muscles or from intracellular deposits in the epithelium covering the proboscis. Glands associated with the proboscis reportedly are venomous; however, there are few direct tests of this hypothesis. This article reviews the structure and current knowledge of the function of the proboscis in the Kalyptorhynchia, points to areas in which the current understanding of phylogenetic relationships within this taxon is incongruent with our hypothesis of how the proboscis evolved, and addresses areas in need of further research, especially as regards functional morphology and biomechanics.

Cicerina debrae n. sp. (Platyhelminthes: Kalyptorhynchia, Cicerinidae) from the Southern Atlantic Coast, USA.

Cicerina debrae is described as a new species of kalyptorhynch flatworm belonging to the Cicerinidae. This species was found in surface sediment from the lower half of the beach at two sites in North Carolina and is identical to museum material previously collected from North Carolina and from the Atlantic coast of Florida. C. debrae differs from its congeners in the shape of the ductus spermatici and the copulatory cirrus.

Diagnostic PCR can be used to illuminate meiofaunal diets and trophic relationships.

Analysis of the meiofaunal food web is hampered because few prey have features that persist long enough in a predator's digestive tract to allow identification to species. Hence, at least for platyhelminth predators, direct observations of prey preference are almost nonexistent, and where they occur, prey identification is often limited to phylum. Studies using an in vitro approach are rare because they are extremely time-consuming and are subject to the criticism that predators removed from their natural environment may exhibit altered behaviors. Although PCR-based approaches have achieved wide application in food-web analysis, their application to meiofaunal flatworms suffers from a number of limitations. Most importantly, the microscopic size of both the predator and prey does not allow for removal of prey material from the digestive tract of the predator, and thus the challenge is to amplify prey sequences in the presence of large quantities of predator sequence. Here, we report on the successful use of prey-taxon-specific primers in diagnostic PCR to identify, to species level, specific prey items of 13 species of meiofaunal flatworms. Extension of this method will allow, for the first time, the development of a species-level understanding of trophic interactions among the meiofauna.

Lehardyia alleithoros, sp. nov. (Turbellaria, Kalyptorhynchia) from the Coast of North Carolina, USA.

As with other high-energy beaches, those of North Carolina harbor a diverse fauna of kalyptorhynch turbellarians, and most appear to be new to science. Here, we describe Lehardyia alleithoros, a new kalyptorhynch turbellarian of the Karkinorhynchidae, from 3 high-energy beach sites in North Carolina. We also report an apparent range extension for Carcharodorhynchus flavidusBrunet, 1967. These observations bring the total number of kalyptorhynch turbellarians reported from the marine interstitial environment of North Carolina to five.