Abstract
A new sepioline species, Sepiola boletzkyi sp. nov. (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae), is described based on two specimens from the Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean). The type specimens are lodged in the Ege University Faculty of Fisheries Museum of Izmir (Turkey). The new species belongs to the Sepiola atlantica group sensu Naef, hence it is compared with the species in this group, namely Sepiola affinis, Sepiola atlantica, Sepiola bursadhaesa, Sepiola intermedia, Sepiola robusta, Sepiola rondeletii, Sepiola steenstrupiana and Sepiola tridens. The male of S. boletzkyi sp. nov. differs from all the others in having the combination of homomorphous ventral arm tips, eight enlarged suckers, subdivided into two groups, in the dorsal row of the distal part of the hectocotylus and a dorsal lobe complementing the copulatory apparatus. In females of S. boletzkyi sp. nov. the bursa copulatrix is large and, unlike all other species in the genus, has a large fungiform process towards the mantle wall. The discovery of S. boletzkyi sp. nov. increases to 12 the number of NE Atlantic-Mediterranean species of Sepiola.
Highlights
The genus Sepiola Leach, 1817 (Cephalopoda: Sepiolida: Sepiolidae) is the most speciose sepioline genus in the NE Atlantic-Mediterranean region, where it is represented by 11 species (Bello 2013)
The new species belongs to the Sepiola atlantica group sensu Naef, it is compared with the species in this group, namely Sepiola affinis, Sepiola atlantica, Sepiola bursadhaesa, Sepiola intermedia, Sepiola robusta, Sepiola rondeletii, Sepiola steenstrupiana and Sepiola tridens
Sepiola affinis Naef, 1912, Sepiola atlantica d’Orbigny, 1841, Sepiola bursadhaesa Bello, 2013, Sepiola intermedia Naef, 1912, Sepiola robusta Naef, 1912, Sepiola rondeletii Leach, 1817, Sepiola steenstrupiana Levy, 1912 and Sepiola tridens de Heij & Goud, 2010, belong to the Sepiola atlantica group sensu Naef (1923), which is characterized by the peculiar morphology of the male copulatory apparatus (Fig. 1)
Summary
The genus Sepiola Leach, 1817 (Cephalopoda: Sepiolida: Sepiolidae) is the most speciose sepioline genus in the NE Atlantic-Mediterranean region, where it is represented by 11 species (Bello 2013). Sepiola atlantica and S. tridens are endemic to the Atlantic Ocean, all other species live in the Mediterranean Sea (Bello 2013). In the paper describing S. bursadhaesa, the most recently defined Sepiola species, Bello (2013: 498) stated “Because of the [...] combination of factors that facilitates speciation [in Sepiola], it is likely that other, still undescribed species of this genus await discove ry.”. Two more species occur in the Mediterranean, namely Sepiola aurantiaca Jatta, 1896 and Sepiola ligulata Naef, 1912 (Bello 2003).
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