Abril Anguas Escalante defends her thesis at the Natural History Museum Denmark

Abril Anguas Escalante defends her thesis,

Taxonomy and ecology of Kinorhyncha in three marine areas of Mexico with a focus on the genus Echinoderes.

Supervisors
Associate Professor Martin Vinther Sørensen, NHMD
Dr. Alberto de Jesus Navarrete, Mexico

Assessment Committee
Associate Professor Katarzyna Grzelak, Institute of Oceanology PAS – Poland
Assistant Professor Hiroshi Yamasaki, Kyushu University – Japan
Associate Professor Alexey Solodovnikov (chair), NHMD

Link to Zoom meeting. Pass code is 7928990311.

Abstract
Kinorhynchs are meiofaunal marine invertebrates with a body composed of a retractile head, a short neck, and a trunk with 11 segments. Approximately 340 species are known, distributed in all regions of the world. In Mexico, studies of kinorhynchs began only in 2015 and approximately 30 species were recorded.
Curiously, Echinoderes, the most common genus of the phylum, was poorly represented. In this thesis, we addressed the study of kinorhynchs in three different marine areas: the Marías Islands in the Pacific Ocean, Xcalak in the Mexican Caribbean, and the southern Gulf of Mexico.
Five species of Echinoderes were described, including the first records for the Mexican Caribbean Sea. The results include the propose of Echinoderes horni group, which includes three species that only vary in one main morphological characteristic. The COI sequence of two of these species helped prove that it is not an intraspecific variation.
We also explored the ecology of kinorhynch communities in the southern Gulf of Mexico and found that bathymetric differences could influence species diversity and composition due to physicochemical variations and probably the disturbance generated by the freshwater efflux from rivers.

A digital version of the PhD thesis can be obtained from the PhD secretary at phd@snm.ku.dk before the defence.
After the defence the thesis will become available from the Royal Danish Library | kb.dk