Prostoma jenningsi
Prostoma jenningsi | |
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Species: | P. jenningsi
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Binomial name | |
Prostoma jenningsi Gibson & Young, 1971
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Prostoma jenningsi is a
Distribution
The only site where P. jenningsi has been found is a former
Prior to the discovery of P. jenningsi, there had only been four reports of freshwater nemerteans in the British Isles, in the River Cherwell at Oxford, the River Cam at Cambridge, a tank in Regent's Park, London, and the Grand Canal at Clondalkin, County Dublin.[2]
Description
Prostoma jenningsi is a slender worm, with an elliptical cross-section. When young they are translucently white but take on a yellowish hue as they age, they then become a "dark yellowish or pale reddish-brown" as they age.[2] They are 0.5 millimetres (0.020 in) long when they hatch, reach their adult colouration above 6 mm (0.24 in) and can reach up to 20 millimetres (0.8 in) long as adults.[2] P. jenningsi has 4–6 black eyespots on the top of the head,[3] The eversible proboscis is two-thirds to three-quarters of the body length, and is armed with one central stylet and paired pouches each containing 2–5 accessory stylets.[2]
P. jenningsi is one of eleven species in the genus Prostoma,[4] and can only be told from related species by dissection. Uniquely, it has eleven nerves innervating the proboscis, rather than nine or ten, as seen in other species.[2] The specific epithet jenningsi commemorates J. B. Jennings of the University of Leeds, a scientist who studied invertebrate digestive physiology.[2] No taxonomic synonyms are recognised.[5]
Ecology
Prostoma jenningsi lives among the vegetation at the edges of the pond, including plant species
References
- ^ The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester & North Merseyside. "Memorandum submitted by The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester & North Merseyside". House of Lords. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
- ^ .
- ^ PDF). Lancashire Biodiversity Partnership.
- ISBN 978-1-4020-8258-0.
- .
- ^ Chris Lowe (2011). "Confirming the existence of the "Croston Worm" (Prostoma jenningsi)". Undergraduate Research Internship Scheme. University of Central Lancashire. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
Further reading
- R. Gibson & J. O. Young (1976). "Ecological observations on a population of the freshwater hoplonemertean Prostoma jenningsi Gibson and Young 1971". Archiv für Hydrobiologie. 78: 42–50.