Eupolymnia Verrill, 1900

Nogueira, João Miguel Matos, Hutchings, Pat & Carrerette, Orlemir, 2015, Terebellidae (Annelida, Terebelliformia) from Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Zootaxa 4019 (1), pp. 484-576 : 539

Genus Eupolymnia Verrill, 1900

Eupolymnia .— Hutchings & Glasby 1988: 12 –13; Capa & Hutchings 2006: 4 .

Type-species. Amphitrite nesidensis Delle Chiaje, 1828 , designated by Hartman (1959).

Diagnosis. Transverse prostomium attached to dorsal surface of upper lip; basal part usually with eyespots; distal part shelf-like. Peristomium forming lips; hood-like upper lip; small, swollen lower lip, restricted to oral area. Lobes present on segments 1–4, ventral, marginal to mouth on segment 1, ventro-lateral on segment 2, and progressively shorter and inserted more laterally on segments 3 and 4. Paired dorso-lateral arborescent branchiae present on segments 2–4, 3 pairs. Anterior segments with glandular, rectangular, smooth to corrugated mid-ventral shields; mid-ventral groove extending posteriorly from termination of mid-ventral shields. Short and conical notopodia beginning from segment 4, extending for 17 segments, until segment 20. Notopodia throughout with narrowly-winged distally notochaetae in both rows. Neuropodia present from segment 5, as low ridges until termination of notopodia, as short pinnules thereafter. Neurochaetae throughout as short-handled avicular uncini, arranged in completely intercalated double rows from segment 11 until termination of notopodia, on segment 20; uncini throughout with dorsal button at mid-length of base, distally pointed prow and crest with few rows of secondary teeth. Nephridial and genital papillae usually present between parapodial lobes of variable number of anterior segments. Pygidium smooth to slightly crenulate.

Remarks. Eupolymnia is a readily recognizable genus due to the shape of the lobes on anterior segments, ventral, around the mouth on segment 1, ventro-lateral on segment 2 and progressively shorter and more laterally inserted on segments 3 and 4.

Another character which is diagnostic for this genus is the distribution of prostomial eyespots. After observation of live specimens of species from Brazil and Australia, we noticed that species of Eupolymnia , at least those occurring in Australia and Brazil, typically have a continuous row of eyespots across the prostomium, without mid-dorsal gap, but with a single eyespot wide line instead mid-dorsally, with eyespots widely separated from each other ( Figs 2 E–G; 36C, F–G).

Two species of Eupolymnia were previously known from Australian waters, E. koorangia Hutchings & Glasby, 1988 and E. trigonostoma ( Schmarda, 1861) . Eupolymnia koorangia was described from material from Kangaroo Island, SA, but has been found all around Australia, including Lizard Island ( Hutchings & Glasby 1988), although in this paper we transfer these records to the new species described herein. Capa & Hutchings (2006) provide a table of the diagnostic characters of the 20 species of the genus currently recognised.

Eupolymnia trigonostoma was described from material from off NSW (no depth given but trawled), and Hessle (1917) synonymised the species with Polymnia congruens ( Marenzeller, 1884) ( Hessle 1917: 176) , a species originally described from off Japan. However, Hutchings & Glasby (1988) could not locate the type material of E. trigonostoma or any modern description, Capa & Hutchings (2006) listed both species ( E. trignostoma and E. congruens ) in their table, but most characters are not scored for E. trigonostoma , because there is no information on these characters in the original description. So we suggest that E. trigonostoma is dubious, unless material from the type locality is available for study, and that this species should not have been synonymised with E. congruens .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Live specimens. A – B. Pista kristiani n. sp. AM W. 45451, MI QLD 2445; C – D. Lanicides rubra n. sp. AM W. 44272, MI QLD 2344; E – G. Eupolymnia chlorobranchiata n. sp. AM W. 45455, MI QLD 2446; H – I. Pistella franciscana n. sp. H. Discarded specimen; I. AM W. 44593, MI QLD 2394; J – L. Loimia tuberculata n. sp; J – K. Spec. AM W. 44280, MI QLD 2359; L. Discarded specimen. Photos: A – K—Alexander Semenov, L—Gary Cranitch.