Proporus venenosus Schmidt O 1852 (citation)- described this species. Also define genus. Diesing KM 1862 (citation)- lists Schizopora venenosa as synonym of his Celidotes venenosa. Uljanin W 1870 (citation)- in Leuckart 1871 (citation) as Schizopora venenosa p 461. Graff L v 1878 (citation)- refers to Uljanin in Leuckart's review- as on table I figure 7. Mentions that as a result of studying Schizoporus venenosus he agrees with Uljanin that there are Turbellaria entirely "darmlos". Diagram ?? in interior as in cliates- discussion and brief description p 463. Graff L v 1886 (citation)- reports this from Lesina. Graff L v 1891 (citation)- Brief description with note. Wagner F v 1891 (citation)- in review of Graff's monograph of 1891, p 654, 656, 663. Pereyaslawzewa S 1892 (citation)- places this species in synonym with a species Schizopora venenosa O. Schmidt - also in synonym with it is Celidotes venenosa Diesing Gamble FW 1893 (citation)- reports this from Plymouth Sound- Active yellow form - from Europe generally. Bohmig L 1895 (citation)- in list p 44. Fuhrmann O 1896 (citation) and Fuhrmann O 1898 (citation)- listed and ecological notes. Graff L v 1904 (citation)- Mentions. Lohner L 1910 (citation)- on diagram parenchyma in. Lohner L, Micoletzky H 1911 (citation)- frontal gland p 387 with illustration and diagram. Luther A 1912 (citation)- mentions this species. Wilhelmi J 1913 (citation)- outline p 23. Steinbock O 1933 (citation)- synonym notes- Southern R 1936 (citation)- Reports from Ireland. Westblad E 1942 (citation)- p 27 reports von Graff says egg cells take up eggs into their cytoplasm- he says this is an error. Westblad E 1945 (citation)- discusses this species in comparison with other species in the genus. Notes eyes in p 7. Westblad E 1948 (citation)- p 25 only acoel with eyes with lenses. p 34 description of copulatory organs. p 52 penis an exception to general rule for family Proporidae. Westblad E 1954 (citation)- reports this seldom in Norway, only one specimen in Laminaria (at about 20 m)- probably a southern species. Occurence: N. Atlantic (Concarneau, the English Channel), the Mediterranean coasts and the Black Sea. Dorjes J 1968 (citation)- lists a good species- with subspecies as in Dorjes J 1971 (citation). Dorjes J 1971 (citation)- places Schizopora venenosa in synonymy - illustrated. Complete list of synonymy, description and defninition p 113-116 and p 132-133. Notes 3 subspecies here - p 132- veneosus, violaceous, and viridiflavus. Dorjes J, Karling TG 1975 (citation)- Britain, Adriatic, etc.- Swedish Museum of Natural History. Hendelberg J 1977 (citation)- electron microscopy on spermatozoa. 9+2 axonemes.
[translated from Doerjes 1971]
Proporus venenosus (O Schmidt 1852)
Schizopora venenosa: O Schmidt 1852, Uljanin 1870, Pereyaslawzewa 1892
Proporus venenosus: Graff 1882, 1886; Gamble 1893, 1904; Fuhrmann 1896, 1898;
Vatova 1928; Stenbock 1933; Westblad 1945, 1948; Ax 1959
P. v. venenosus: Graff 1904, 1905; Sabussow 1905; Mikoletzky 1910;
Riedl 1953, 1956, 1959; Westblad 1954
P. v. violaceus: Graff 1882; Riedl 1953, 1956, 1959
P. v. viridoflavus: Riedl 1959 (first Steinbock 1933)
distribution: Black See (Sebastopol), European Mediterranean (Naples, Messina,
Lesina, Triest, Rovinj), French Atlantic coast (Concerneau), English Channel
(Plymouth), Norwegian west coast (Bergen)
Schmidt first described fr Mediterranean 1852;
Graff 1882 moved into Proporus and added his own description;
specimens had green-yellow or violet color, so established subspecies based on color
darker ones P. v. violaceus
light yellow form into P. v. venenosus in 1904, 1905
Riedl 1959, on suggestion of Steinbock (1933), named green specimens P. v. viridiflavus
animal reported by many authors was identified simply by well-developed eyes;
no inner anatomy (e.g., from Graff's 1882 identifying pear-shaped penis)
Doerjes discovered two sets of sagittal sections from Westblad in Natural History Museum Stockholm
1.0 mm long
round in cross-section, uniformly broad
front- and hind-end gently rounded
epidermis completely insunk, finely-granulated, same height over all body
numerous rhabdite glands without any special pattern of distribution
a few widely distributed flask- and bulb-shaped mucous glands
epidermis sharply set off proximally by circular and longitudinal fibers of body-wall muscles
other musculature only weakly developed
numerous strongly staining frontal glands reach far back into the front part of the body
mouth opening in subfrontal position
pharynx = long ciliated pharynx-simplex-tube that appears to be direct infolding of body wall
pharyngeal musculature of outer circular and inner longitudinal fibers
epithelium completely insunk
isolated glands on either side of pharynx near its proximal end,
[but] connection to pharynx uncertain
statocyst lies over the pharynx among nerve fibers of brain
brain, according to Graff 1882, consists of 2-lobed dorsal and 4-ganglion ventral parts
lensed eyes, which are not recognizable any more in sections, lie in front brain lobes
Westblad 1945 called these lobes optic lobes ("sight ganglia")
testes follicular
paired egg string -- no accessory organs
male copulatory organ
reaches far into body
long ciliated tube with ball-shaped sem.ves., pear-shaped penis, according to Graff 1905
Westblad's sections (fr Plymouth and Rovinj) show no penis or cirrus-like organ;
only tube-form ciliated antrum masculinum
and assemblage of sperm as false seminal vesicle
(so Graff may have mistaken sperm bundle for sem. vesicle and parallel-arranged
sperm in the sperm pocket for bulb-shaped penis built of "spindle-form cells")
Doerjes adds this from observations of Westblad's sections:
male pore is terminal at posterior end
body wall here turns in to form long ciliate antrum masculinum
antr. masc. covered over whole length with outer circular and inner longit. muscles
insunk epithelium of same structure as epidermis and pharynx epithelium
accessory gland cells appear in small number only in
entrance from antrum tube to muscular ves. sem.
which is arched with its opening pore into the weakly widened lumen of the antrum tube.
sperm plump, piston-shaped, highly ordered in sem. ves.
thickened heads all aligned along wall of sem. ves., tails reach to exit pore
proximal to ves. sem. is sperm bundle without wall, so is false sem. ves.
the supposition of Westblad 1948 that tube-form antrum is everted is supported by
Apelt's observations of such behavior in Pseudaphanostoma psammophilum
Notes from synonyms
Notes for Schizoprora venenosus
Schizoporus venenosus Schmidt O 1852 (citation)- Carus JV 1863 (citation)- p 473 defines. Graff L v 1882 (citation)- gives as synonym or Proporus venenosa. Pereyaslawzewa D 1892 (citation)- places Proporus venenosus Graff in this genus- see Porporus (places the genus Schizopora in a Tribe Pseudoacoels) Dorjes J 1971 (citation)- Schizopora venenosoa is synonym with Proporus venenosa.
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