Biodiversity Data Journal :
Short Communication
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Corresponding author: Claudia Sanjuan Hernández (ccsanjuanh@gmail.com)
Academic editor: Francisco Brusa
Received: 20 Nov 2023 | Accepted: 20 Apr 2024 | Published: 13 May 2024
© 2024 Claudia Sanjuan Hernández, Marco Curini-Galletti, Marlies Monnens, Tom Artois, Yander L. Diez
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Sanjuan Hernández C, Curini-Galletti M, Monnens M, Artois T, Diez YL (2024) First record of a proseriate flatworm predating on a rhabdocoel (Platyhelminthes: Proseriata and Rhabdocoela). Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e116039. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e116039
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Microturbellarian flatworms comprise a diverse assemblage amongst meiofauna. These animals primarily exhibit carnivorous feeding habits, preying on various organisms, such as crustaceans, annelids and even other microturbellarians. However, details of their diet are poorly known. This study represents the first documentation of a proseriate preying upon a rhabdocoel. The proseriate was extracted from the sediment and studied alive. Within its digestive tract, structures of the reproductive systems of its prey were observed and identified as belonging to Phonorhynchopsis haegheni, a predatory turbellarian as well. No remains of any other organisms were detected. This finding underscores the relevance of Proseriata as top-level predators within the meiofaunal trophic web, a role that warrants further consideration beyond what has been previously acknowledged.
Polycystididae, Phonorhynchopsis, pray, feeding, meiofauna
Turbellarian flatworms, along with nematodes and crustaceans, are predominant members of meiofaunal communities in terms of biodiversity and abundance (
The specimen under examination was collected from the intertidal zone of Bueycabón, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on 18 November 2017 (Fig.
The collected specimen was identified as a new species of Proseriata (Fig.
Collected specimen of Proseriata with structures of the rhabdocoel Phonorhynchopsis haegheni in the gut lumen. A complete animal body; B, C medial part of the animal body. Abbreviations: as4, accessory stylet type IV; b, brain; bu, bursa; gl, gut lumen; ph, pharynx; ps4, prostatic stylet type IV; s, statocyst; t, tale. as4, bu and ps4 correspond to the rhabdocoel and the other structures to the proseriate specimen.
Ecological studies on proseriate feeding are scarce; the most recent ones were published over three decades ago (
Proseriates primarily feed on copepods, nematodes, oligochaetes and polychaetes, with occasional reports of predation on cnidarians (
In our studied specimen, it can be inferred that the prey specimen was similar in size compared to its predator, considering the measurements of the prey's sclerotised structures (
Consumption of certain turbellarians by proseriates has been documented, albeit less frequently than the consumption of other metazoan groups (
Phonorhynchopsis haegheni primarily feeds on crustaceans and nematodes, as evidenced by the presence of cuticles from these organisms in its gut (personal observations). With a documented presence in Florida, The Galapagos, Curaçao, Indonesia and Cuba (
Trophic relationships with the meiofauna community may be more intricate than previously understood. While this study demonstrates predation by a proseriate on a rhabdocoel, predation on Proseriata by other meiofauna members, including rhabdocoels, has also been observed (
Proseriates' feeding tendencies suggest they influence other meiofauna populations. As a result, these animals might shape meiofaunal communities by competing with and regulating other turbellarians like rhabdocoels, with whom they share habitats and dietary preferences. This highlights the intricate and yet-to-be-fully-understood dynamics amongst predatory meiofauna taxa. Furthermore, their predation on juvenile stages of macrofauna could also potentially impact the structure of macrofaunal communities. As such, we here argue that a deeper exploration of proseriate's ecological role is vital for a holistic understanding of marine ecosystem intricacies. It is also worth mentioning that the proseriate object of this report and presently under study, could not be easily assigned to any known genera and even families of Proseriata and may be taken as explicative of how little is still known about the rich and diverse Cuban meiofauna (
The authors have followed all applicable international, national and institutional recommendations related to using and handling animals for research.
Conceptualisation and Methodology, CS, MC-G, MM, TA and YLD; Field collecting and Formal Analysis, CS and YLD; Resources and Funding Acquisition, YLD and TA; Original Draft Preparation, Review and Editing, CS, MC-G, MM, TA and YLD.