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*Neoaiptasia morbilla* new species (Cnidaria: Actiniaria), a sea anemone symbiont of sand-dwelling gastropods on Saipan, Mariana Islands, with comments on some other such associations
Fautin, Daphne G. Goodwill, Roger H.
Fautin, Daphne G.
Goodwill, Roger H.
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Abstract
Very small, cryptic specimens of a new species of sea anemone attach to shells of living gastropods that burrow in subtidal sand on the shores of Saipan and Tinian, Mariana Islands. We have found members of the new species, which we describe as *Neoaiptasia morbilla*, on the shells of eight species of snails that belong to five families. We modify slightly the definition of the genus *Neoaiptasia* (family Aiptasiidae) to accomodate this species. *Neoaiptasia morbilla* n.sp. is most easily distinguished when alive by its pale column with minute red spots and symbiosis with a living gastropod. In preservation, it is distinguished by its lack of cinclides, relatively weak musculature, bumps on its column, which is not divide into regions, and details of its cnidae. Specimens of *N. morbilla* n.sp. resemble those of *Paraiptasia radiata* in being symbiotic with snails and living in east Asia, but specimens of *P. radiata* are larger, have prominent longitudinal stripes, and have a column divided into scapus and scapulus. The animal now known as *P. radiata* was originally described as *Actinia radiata*, a name that has been applied to two species of sea anemones from eastern Asia.
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Date
2009
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Micronesica
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Fautin, Daphne Gail and Roger H. Goodwill. 2009. *Neoaiptasia morbilla* new species (Cnidaria: Actiniaria), a sea anemone symbiont of sand-dwelling gastropods on Saipan, Mariana Islands, with comments on some other such associations. Micronesica 41(1): 101-115.