The First Barcoding Analysis of Symbiotic Nemerteans of the Genus Malacobdella Blainville, 1827 (Hoplonemertea, Monostilifera) from the Far Eastern Seas of Russia

The occurrence of Malacobdella grossa in Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan has been confirmed by analysis of cytochrome coxidase subunit I (COI) gene fragments. The sequences of four specimens from the Sea of Japan belong to the same haplotype and differ from the sequences of the specimens from the White and North Seas by three to five substitutions. This is the first hoplonemertean species whose trans-Arctic distribution has been proven at a genetic level. The studied Malacobdella japonica specimens from Aniva Bay (Sakhalin Island) belong to the same haplotype as the specimens from Akkeshi Bay and Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.