Loricophrya stresemanni

Loricophrya cf. stresemanni (Allgén, 1951)

(Fig. 3 A–B)

Material examined: One individual found as epibiont on nematode host belongs to the genus Tricoma collected from stn MUC-20, at sediment depth 0–2 cm, water depth 2054 m, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean.

Diagnosis: Marine loricate suctorian with elongate cell body protruding from the edge of the stylotheca, conical, pseudostyle with varying degrees of development. The edge of the lorica is even, without cuts and toothings. There are a transverse wrinkles at the pseudo-style, which can be poorly discernible in individuals with short pseudo-style. The cell body is attached to the edges of the lorica aperture. Clavate tentacles (4–16) are located at the apical surface of the body. Macronucleus rounded, slightly elongated.

Measurements from present find (based on one individual, in μm): Lorica length 31, lorica width 17, lorica aperture width 17, body length 34, body width14, stalk length 9, length of the tentacles 4–5.

Host and substrate specificity: The species was described (Allgén 1951) as epibiont of nematode Spirina parasitifera (Bastian, 1865), also registered on nematode specimens of the family Desmodoridae Filipjev, 1922 (Chatterjee et al. 2019b) and on representatives of genus Paradesmodora (Baldrighi et al. 2020); on Tricoma sp. (present report).

Distribution: The species was firstly registered from Trondheimsfjord (Norway), the Norwegian sea (Allgén 1951). Next was found in Miramar bay, Goa, west coast of India at the mouth region of Mandovi River mixing with the Arabian Sea (Chatterjee et al. 2019b) and in Archipelago of Maldives - coral reef (Baldrighi et al. 2020); Arabian Sea, 2054 m depth (present report).

Remarks: The species was found on nematode hosts only.