Pilargis berkeleyae Monro, 1933

Salazar-Vallejo, Sergio I. & Harris, Leslie H., 2006, Revision of Pilargis de Saint-Joseph, 1899 (Annelida, Polychaeta, Pilargidae), Journal of Natural History 40 (3 - 4), pp. 119-159 : 135-137

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00222930600594212
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/039487A1-B444-FFD6-F6DC-FE30FB8FFB63
treatment provided by	Carolina
scientific name	Pilargis berkeleyae Monro, 1933
status

Treatment

Pilargis berkeleyae Monro, 1933 View in CoL

( Figures 5 View Figure 5 A–E, 6A–C)

Pilargis berkeleyi View in CoL (sic) Monro 1933, p 673–675, Figures 1–4 View Figure 1 View Figure 2 View Figure 3 View Figure 4 ; Hartman 1947, p 491–494, Plate 59, Figures 1–8 View Figure 1 View Figure 2 View Figure 3 View Figure 4 View Figure 5 View Figure 6 View Figure 7 View Figure 8 ; Hartman 1968, p 383–384, 5 figures.

Pilargis berkeleyae Pettibone 1966, p 161 View in CoL –164, Figures 1 View Figure 1 , 2 View Figure 2 (partim, non Figure 2a, b View Figure 2 ).

Type material

Eastern Pacific Ocean : holotype ( BMNH 1933.1.14.1), Friday Harbor, Washington, coll. E. Berkeley. Non-type mature female collected in the same locality and by the same person (LACNHM-1714). Two juveniles (LAMNH-3492), Velero IV, Stat. 3492 (33 ° 549300N, 118 ° 299110W), 26 fathoms, black mud, 15 September 1955 .

Redescription

Holotype an anterior fragment, dissected posteriorly; 19 mm long (excluding the everted pharynx), 2 mm wide about setiger 20, 57 setigers. Body pale; dark brown pigmented glands on dorsal cirrophore, starting in setiger 3 on the right, 4 on the left. Two large lateral dark glands behind the insertion of tentacular cirri (eyes?). Body verrucae sparse, small, mainly on anterior end and parapodial lobes ( Figure 5A View Figure 5 ).

Prostomium fused with peristomium; palps globose, palpostyles tiny. Antennae cirriform, placed dorsally on the basis of palps. Peristomium 1.3 times longer than first setiger. Tentacular cirri cirriform, as wide as dorsal cirri of setiger 1.

First setiger with dorsal cirri about twice as long as dorsal tentacular cirri ( Figure 5B View Figure 5 ). Dorsal cirri of setiger 1 three times as long as second dorsal cirri; right second dorsal cirri missing. All parapodia with dorsal cirrophore globose; anterior setigers with few small dark glands ( Figure 5C View Figure 5 ), concentrated under the epidermis. Median parapodia with cirrophore turgent, thick, with dark glandular area completely filling the cirrophore. Posterior parapodia with gland mass perimeter less heavily pigmented ( Figure 5D View Figure 5 ); glandular material concentrated slightly below the insertion of cirrostyles. No additional pigmented materials visible. Dorsal cirrostyles thick, digitate, about one-third to one-fourth as long as cirrophore. Ventral cirri thin, cirriform, can be as long as acicular lobe in anterior setigers; in most cases not surpassing the acicular lobe. Superior neurosetae mostly smooth capillaries, inferior bundle setae limbate, finely spinulose, distally bifid.

Pharynx everted, globose, transparent, broken in three sectors; it has two lobes clearly separated from the inside. Right setiger 8 has been previously removed; lumen can be seen from the outside; gut diverticula may start some setigers before it. Non-type mature female (LACNHM-1714) with eggs in median and posterior parapodia from setiger 240, one to three large eggs (200 mm each) per parapodium, others in coelom, spread out after parapodial removal.

Variation

Non-type specimen is a very large anterior fragment of a mature female, 170 mm long, 2 mm wide at setiger 20, 482 setigers. In spite of its large size, the glandular portion over anterior surface of dorsal cirrophore is small, and the integument is rough, with sparse small verrucae, concentrated over the anterior end and cirrostyles. Parapodia very corrugated with longitudinal and transverse streaks ( Figure 5E View Figure 5 ). Dorsal cirrophore well developed, not clearly cut from parapodial lobe, few spherical glands inside it, without pigmentation; cirrostyles digitate, 1.5 times longer than wide, with few verrucae concentrated over its dorsal surface. Ventral cirri directed laterally, digitate, twi to three times longer than wide, surpassing setal lobe. Neurosetae long smooth capillaries and limbates finely spinulose, bidentate. Everted pharynx broken, no internal septum was seen.

One juvenile with large globose structures in anterior segments ( Figure 6A View Figure 6 ), could be yolk granules and, if so, indicative of a lecitotrophic development. Besides pigmented glandular areas in dorsal cirrophore, many dark granules irregularly placed over the back ( Figure 6B View Figure 6 ), while ventral surface has black spots restricted to parapodial bases ( Figure 6C View Figure 6 ).

Discussion

The relative size and abundance of verrucae do not change with sexual maturity. Further, the development and position of the glands over the parapodia are very consistent and useful characters; thus the more closely allied Californian species, P. berkeleyae Monro, 1933 and P. maculata , cannot be separated using verrucae abundance but they can more easily be identified using the pattern of glandular development on parapodia . The former has glands that extend over the cirrophore, occupying from the subsurface to the inner portion of the cirrophore, while the latter has glands more or less restricted to the anterior surface of parapodial lobes, and they are rather superficial. The record by Imajima (1987, p 162) may not belong to this species because of the presence of abundant large verrucae (see Imajima 1987, Figure 7 View Figure 7 ), and the insertion of those illustrations by Blake (1994) might promote confusion. Further, the record of a commensal worm in Chaetopterus tubes ( Britayev 1993), implies a species different from that found by Imajima, judging by the size and abundance of verrucae (seen in his figures). They should be compared with P. pacifica Uschakov, 1955 , originally described from Northern Japan Sea.

Distribution

Described from Friday Harbor, Washington, it has been documented as far south as Southern California. Other records are questionable because of the confusion regarding the development of dorsal verrucae, and glandular patterns in dorsal cirrophores.