First Record of Parahubrechtia rayi (Nemertea: Palaeonemertea) from Japan

Abstract

The tubulanid palaeonemertean Parahubrechtia rayi Chernyshev, Polyakova, and Sun, 2022 has been only known from the type locality (4–6 m depth) in the Sea of Japan, Peter the Great Bay, Russia. Our nemertean faunal surveys at shallow subtidal zones yielded a couple of anterior body fragments of whitish tubulanids, each from i) Moroiso Cove (6 m depth) in Sagami Bay, middle Honshu, and ii) Akkeshi Bay (4 m depth), eastern Hokkaido. Partial 658-bp sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene from these specimens differed by up to 1.2% p-distance from four sequences of P. rayi from the type locality. This expands the species’ known distribution by ~1000 km eastward and southeastward to the Pacific coasts of Japan.