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A new species of Carcinonemertes, Carcinonemertes conanobrieni sp. nov. (Nemertea: Carcinonemertidae), an egg predator of the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus.

ABSTRACT: A new species of nemertean worm belonging to the genus Carcinonemertes is described from egg masses of the Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus from the Florida Keys, Florida, USA. This is the first species of Carcinonemertes reported to infect P. argus or any other lobster species in the greater Caribbean and western Atlantic Ocean. Carcinonemertes conanobrieni sp. nov. varies in body color from a translucent white to a pale orange, with males ranging in total body length from 2.35 to 12.71 mm and females ranging from 0.292 to 16.73 mm. Among the traits that separate this new species from previously described species in the genus Carcinonemertes are a relatively wide stylet basis, minimal sexual size dimorphism, and a unique mucus sheath decorated with external hooks. Also, juvenile worms were found to encyst themselves next to lobster embryos and female worms lay both long strings of eggs wound throughout the lobster's setae as well as spherical cases that are attached to lobster embryos. The stylet length and stylet basis remain unchanged throughout ontogeny for both male and female worms. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference phylogenetic analyses separated this newly described species from all other species of Carcinonemertes with available COI sequences. Carcinonemertes spp. are voracious egg predators and have been tied to the collapse of various crustacean fisheries. The formal description of this new species represents the first step to understand putative impacts of this worm on the population health of one of the most lucrative yet already depressed crustacean fisheries.

SUBMITTER: Simpson LA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5419566 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A new species of Carcinonemertes, Carcinonemertes conanobrieni sp. nov. (Nemertea: Carcinonemertidae), an egg predator of the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus.

Simpson Lunden Alice LA Ambrosio Louis John LJ Baeza J Antonio JA

PloS one 20170505 5

A new species of nemertean worm belonging to the genus Carcinonemertes is described from egg masses of the Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus from the Florida Keys, Florida, USA. This is the first species of Carcinonemertes reported to infect P. argus or any other lobster species in the greater Caribbean and western Atlantic Ocean. Carcinonemertes conanobrieni sp. nov. varies in body color from a translucent white to a pale orange, with males ranging in total body length from 2.35 to 12.71 ...[more]

PMID: 28475595

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Project description:BackgroundCrustaceans express several classes of receptor genes in their antennules, which house olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) and non-olfactory chemosensory neurons. Transcriptomics studies reveal that candidate chemoreceptor proteins include variant Ionotropic Receptors (IRs) including both co-receptor IRs and tuning IRs, Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels, Gustatory Receptors, epithelial sodium channels, and class A G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). The Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, expresses in its antennules nearly 600 IRs, 17 TRP channels, 1 Gustatory Receptor, 7 epithelial sodium channels, 81 GPCRs, 6 G proteins, and dozens of enzymes in signaling pathways. However, the specific combinatorial expression patterns of these proteins in single sensory neurons are not known for any crustacean, limiting our understanding of how their chemosensory systems encode chemical quality.ResultsThe goal of this study was to use transcriptomics to describe expression patterns of chemoreceptor genes in OSNs of P. argus. We generated and analyzed transcriptomes from 7 single OSNs, some of which were shown to respond to a food odor, as well as an additional 7 multicell transcriptomes from preparations containing few (2-4), several (ca. 15), or many (ca. 400) OSNs. We found that each OSN expressed the same 2 co-receptor IRs (IR25a, IR93a) but not the other 2 antennular coIRs (IR8a, IR76b), 9-53 tuning IRs but only one to a few in high abundance, the same 5 TRP channels plus up to 5 additional TRPs, 12-17 GPCRs including the same 5 expressed in every single cell transcriptome, the same 3 G proteins plus others, many enzymes in the signaling pathways, but no Gustatory Receptors or epithelial sodium channels. The greatest difference in receptor expression among the OSNs was the identity of the tuning IRs.ConclusionsOur results provide an initial view of the combinatorial expression patterns of receptor molecules in single OSNs in one species of decapod crustacean, including receptors directly involved in olfactory transduction and others likely involved in modulation. Our results also suggest differences in receptor expression in OSNs vs. other chemosensory neurons.

Project description:The spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, has two classes of chemosensilla representing "olfaction" and "distributed chemoreception," as is typical for decapod crustaceans. Olfactory sensilla are found exclusively on antennular lateral flagella and are innervated only by olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) that project into olfactory lobes organized into glomeruli in the brain. Distributed chemoreceptor sensilla are found on all body surfaces including the antennular lateral flagella (LF) and walking leg dactyls (dactyls), and are innervated by both chemoreceptor neurons (CRNs) and mechanoreceptor neurons that project into somatotopically organized neuropils. Here, we examined expression of three classes of chemosensory genes in transcriptomes of the LF (with ORNs and CRNs), dactyls (with only CRNs), and brain of P. argus: Ionotropic Receptors (IRs), which are related to ionotropic glutamate receptors and found in all protostomes including crustaceans; Gustatory Receptors (GRs), which are ionotropic receptors that are abundantly expressed in insects but more restricted in crustaceans; and Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels, a diverse set of sensor-channels that include several chemosensors in diverse animals. We identified 108 IRs, one GR, and 18 homologues representing all seven subfamilies of TRP channels. The number of IRs expressed in the LF is far greater than in dactyls, possibly reflecting the contribution of receptor proteins associated with the ORNs beyond those associated with CRNs. We found co-receptor IRs (IR8a, IR25a, IR76b, IR93a) and conserved IRs (IR21a, IR40a) in addition to the numerous divergent IRs in the LF, dactyl, and brain. Immunocytochemistry showed that IR25a is expressed in ORNs, CRNs, and a specific type of cell located in the brain near the olfactory lobes. While the function of IRs, TRP channels, and the GR was not explored, our results suggest that P. argus has an abundance of diverse putative chemoreceptor proteins that it may use in chemoreception.

Dataset Information

A new species of Carcinonemertes, Carcinonemertes conanobrieni sp. nov. (Nemertea: Carcinonemertidae), an egg predator of the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus.

Publications

A new species of Carcinonemertes, Carcinonemertes conanobrieni sp. nov. (Nemertea: Carcinonemertidae), an egg predator of the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus.

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