Loxocorone, a new genus of the family loxosomatidae (Entoprocta: Solitaria), with descriptions of two new Loxomitra (sensu stricto) and a new Loxocorone from Okinawa, the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan

Abstract

The type species of Loxomitra Nielsen, 1964, L. kefersteinii (Claparède, 1867), has following characters: A) the buds have a pair of terminal wings at the base of the stalk, and B) the liberated buds crawl on the substratum by attaching the two terminal wings to the substratum and twisting the whole body. By contrast, some other members of the genus have following characters: A') the buds lack the terminal wings but have a foot with foot groove, and B') the liberated buds glide over the substratum using the foot with foot groove. I thus propose to divide Loxomitra (sensu lato) into two genera- Loxomitra (sensu stricto) characterized by A) and B), and Loxocorone gen. nov. by A') and B'). I also describe two new Loxomitra (sensu stricto), L. mizugamaensis sp. nov., and L. tetraorganon sp. nov., and one new Loxocorone, L. allax sp. nov. from the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. All of the currently recognized species of the Loxomitra (sensu lato) are reviewed to specify their generic allocations in response to the above change.