Chloeia viridis Schmarda, 1861

Fig. 2

Chloeia viridis Schmarda, 1861: 144–146, Pl. 35, Figs 295–305; de Quatrefages 1866: 392; Baird 1868: 232; Augener 1925: 20–21 (syn. C. euglochis Ehlers, 1887 and C. modesta Ehlers, 1887); Hartman 1949: 37–38 (syn.); Hartman 1951: 29; Rioja 1958: 225; Nonato & Luna 1970: 65, Figs 1, 2; Day 1973: 15; Gathof 1984: 37.8–37.10, Figs 37.5, 37.6; Amaral & Nonato 1994: 372–374, Figs 15, 16; Barroso & Paiva 2011: 422, Tab. 1; Yánez-Rivera & Salazar-Vallejo 2022: 526–530, Figs 1D, 5A, B, 13, 14 (redescr., restricted).

Chloeia euglochis: Treadwell 1902: 194 (pigm.) (non Ehlers, 1887).

Additional material. Jamaica. Three specimens (BMNH 1931.6.22.16–18), West side Kingston Harbor, St. Vincent, A. Totton, coll. (two with middorsal spots reddish-brown, lateral bands paler; the other with middorsal spots blackish, lateral bands dark green; branchiae removed from a median chaetiger for illustrating pigmentation pattern; 25–31 mm long, 4–5 mm wide, 25–26 chaetigers). Brazil. One specimen (ZMH 667), Laguna, 10 Jun, 1890, H. Kuns, coll. (bent ventrally, anterior end damaged, probably after removal of fishing hook; dorsal longitudinal spots barely visible along anterior chaetigers; body 54 mm long, 10 mm wide, 32 chaetigers).

Diagnosis. Chloeia with bipinnate branchiae from chaetiger 4, progressively smaller posteriorly; middorsal bands T-shaped, tapered posteriorly, and two oblique lateral bands; anterior ones 2× larger than posterior ones; caruncle with about 10 folds; notochaetae furcates and harpoon chaetae, without spurs; neurochaetae furcates and spurred.

Remarks. Chloeia viridis Schmarda, 1861 was recently redescribed (Yáñez-Rivera & Salazar-Vallejo, 2022). It belongs in the group viridis by having a complex pigmentation pattern, and bippinate branchiae from chaetiger 4, progressively smaller posteriorly. Because C. viridis also has additional dorsal oblique lateral bands, it resembles C. incerta de Quatrefages, 1866 (see above); further, these two species have middorsal bands with lateral expansions along anterior segmental margin. However, the principal difference between these two species relies on the shape of the middorsal spots; thus, C. viridis has dorsal spots T-shaped and the middorsal band is similar width along each segment, whereas for C. incerta middorsal spots are Y-shaped to subtriangular, with the middorsal band progressively thinner along each segment.

These topotype specimens allow a clarification for the pigmentation details. Body pale with middorsal bands reddish to blackish (Fig. 2A, D), T-shaped, not reaching the posterior segmental margin; lateral bands paler, oblique with projections divergent, thinner (Fig. 2B, E), paler ones to lateral tips of middorsal spots, and transverse laterally continued into a darker band running along anterior notopodial surface. Notopodial lobe with a dark band along anterior surfaces, separate from anterior surface band. Prostomium anterior area pale. Eyes blackish, anterior ones about 2× larger than posterior ones. Antennae and palps brownish to blackish, at least along posterior surface. Medi-an antenna almost as long as caruncle in one specimen (broken in the others), 2× longer than lateral antennae; lateral antennae 2× longer than palps. Caruncle pale, reaching chaetiger 4, median ridge reddish or brownish, with about 18 vertical folds; lateral lobes with about 18 vertical folds. Bipinnate branchiae from chaetiger 4, cirriform branchiae in chaetigers 1–4; branchial stems pale, branches (6–7 in median chaetigers) reddish to dark green. Pygidium with anal cirri whitish, subcylindrical, blunt to barely pointed (Fig. 2C, F), 4–7× longer than wide.

The record of Chloeia sp. by Gardiner (1975: 101–103) was based on small specimens without pigmentation pattern, although one juvenile had a middorsal purple stripe and purple dorsal cirri; he hesitated about identifying them as C. virids pending better preserved specimens.

Distribution. Western Atlantic, from Florida to Brazil, in mixed substrates in shallow waters.