April 21, 2021
Hokkaido University
Keio University
National Institute of Polar Research
A research group including Researcher Daisuke Shimada and Lecturer Keiichi Kakui of the Faculty of Science at Hokkaido University, Associate Professor Tadashi Suzuki and Senior Assistant Professor Megumu Tsujimoto of Keio University, and Professor Satoshi Imura of the National Institute of Polar Research has discovered two new species of marine nematodes from the coast around Syowa Station in Antarctica.
Nematodes are thread-like animals considered to be the most abundant on Earth. While they are commonly known as parasites, such as Anisakis, which parasitizes fresh seafood and causes food poisoning, and species over 8 meters long that parasitize whales, the vast majority are free-living (non-parasitic) species, with many found in marine environments. However, free-living marine nematodes around Syowa Station in Antarctica had not been studied at all until recent years. Therefore, the research group led by Researcher Shimada launched a project in 2015 to investigate the diversity of free-living marine nematodes around Syowa Station. They reported one new species each in academic journals in 2017 and 2019. This latest study is the third from the project. After detailed observation of two nematode species collected from the sand on the coast of the Langhovde region, located about 20 km south of Syowa Station, both were found to be unknown species and were reported as the new species Odontophora
odontophoroides and Parabathylaimus
jare.
The coast of Langhovde where the two new species were found is so tranquil, with no waves or sounds, that Associate Professor Suzuki, who collected the samples, reportedly dug in the sand wondering, "Is anything really alive here?" The discovery of two new species from a single location that showed little sign of life and was accessible with just waders and a shovel suggests that many more unreported species are expected to be found through future surveys covering wider areas and different water depths.
This research was published online in the journal Species Diversity on Monday, March 22, 2021.
Please see below for the full press release.