Trophoniella borealis ( Hartman, 1965 ) SALAzAR-Vallejo, 2012

SALAzAR-Vallejo, Sergio I., 2012, Revision of Trophoniella Hartman, 1959 (Polychaeta, Flabelligeridae), Zoosystema 34 (3), pp. 453-519 : 453-519

Trophoniella borealis ( Hartman, 1965) n. comb.

( Fig. 4 )

Buskiella borealis Hartman, 1965: 174-176 , pl. 36, figs a-f.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Central western Atlantic. Holotype of Buskiella borealis ( LACM-AHF 544 ) and 6 paratypes ( LACM-AHF 545 ), N off Amazon River mouth, R/ V Chain, stn Ch. 35 Dr. 33 (07°52’N, 54°31.5’W → 07°55’N, 55°35’W), 520-550 m, 25.IV.1963. H. Sanders (paratypes 1 complete, 5 incomplete, with darker anterior end, posterior end pale; complete 73 mm long, 5 mm wide, cephalic cage 8 mm long, 43 chaetigers; incomplete 54-142 mm long, 5-8 mm wide, cephalic cage 8-18 mm long, 30-51 chaetigers; additional anterior fragments 85-147 mm long, 5-8 mm wide, 27-53 chaetigers, gonopodial papillae not seen).

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS. — Central western Atlantic. 4 anterior fragments ( USNM 1132098 ), off French Guiana, R/V Oregon, cruise 13, stn 10823 (07°40’N, 53°53’W), 300 fathoms, 27.XI.1969. — 1 complete and an anterior fragment ( MCZ 32480), Guiana Basin, R / V Knorr 25, stn 296 (07°44.5’N, 54°19.1’W), 499- 508 m, 28.II.1972 (complete 126 mm long, 6 mm wide, cephalic cage 16 mm long, 57 chaetigers; rows of papillae, undamaged, in posterior region) .

Caribbean Sea. 2 specimens (ECOSUR, UMML), without posterior end, most chaetae broken, University of Miami Deep Sea expeditions, R/V Pillsbury, stn 781 (11°30’N, 73°26’W), off between Cabo de la Aguja and Riohacha, Colombia, 549 m, mud and pteropod shells, 30.VII.1968 (67-81 mm long, 5-6 mm wide, cephalic cage broken, 35-38 chaetigers).

DISTRIBUTION. — From Colombia to northern Brazil, in sediments at 499-600 m depth.

DESCRIPTION

Holotype (LACM-AHF 544) without posterior end, first three chaetigers previously removed (placed in a separate vial), pale yellowish, darker anteriorly ( Fig. 4A ).Tunic mostly smooth, transparent, thick, tough, finely granulose, almost no sediment particles ( Fig. 4C, D ). Body cylindrical, slightly tapered posteriorly, 145 mm long, 7 mm wide, cephalic cage 17 mm long, 57 chaetigers. Body papillae thin, filiform, distally capitate, smothered in exposed surfaces, visible in depressions and in some posterior chaetigers, arranged in two longitudinal series dorsally and in four longitudinal series ventrally; other long papillae placed in noto- and neurochaetal lobes.

Cephalic hood exposed, short, margin finely papillated. Prostomium low, without eyes; caruncle well developed, dissects branchial lobe. Palps large, corrugated in holotype ( Fig. 4B ); palp keels low, rounded. Branchiae cirriform, sessile on a short tongue-like protuberance, about 25 filaments per side ( Fig. 4F ); some branchiae as long as palps, other shorter (one pair of nephridial lobes visible on the base of branchial plate in non-type specimen USNM 1132098).

Cephalic cage chaetae about as long as 1⁄₁₀ body length, almost twice as long as body width. Chaetigers 1-2 involved in the cephalic cage; chaetae arranged in short dorso- and ventrolateral series, 6-7 noto- and 5-6 neurochaetae per chaetiger. Anterior dorsal margin of first chaetiger with a cirriform lobe (one paratype with a bifid tip); anterior chaetigers with long papillae, 2-3 postchaetal and two longitudinal rows of elongated cirriform ones.

Chaetiger 1 shorter than chaetigers 2-3, these with a conical, blunt notopodial lobe, larger than following ones. Chaetal transition from cephalic cage to body chaetae gradual; falcate, anchylosed hooks starting by chaetiger 21, by chaetiger 32 all neurochaetae anchylosed, falcate hooks (about chaetiger 40 in other anterior fragments). Gonopodial lobes not visible (externally detectable by a low rounded hump in chaetiger 5; tunic removed from one specimen UMML; gonopodial lobes present in chaetiger 5, each conical, blackish, with a thin projection reaching the tunic outer surface).

Parapodia well developed, placed on the body corners. Median neuropodia ventrolateral. Notopodia long, lobate, with 2-3 cirriform postchaetal papillae. Neuropodia long lobes, with two long postchaetal papillae. Noto- and neuropodia well separated from each other.

Median notochaetae arranged in short transverse series, 7-8 per bundle, as long as ½ body width; all notochaetae multiarticulated capillaries, short articles basal and medially, long articles restricted distally ( Fig. 4G ). Neurochaetae multiarticulated capillaries in anterior chaetigers, replaced by hooks from chaetiger 21, where one falcate simple hook appears; by chaetiger 32, all neurochaetae anchylosed, falcate hooks; median and posterior hooks subdistally expanded, spoon-shaped, tip acute, entire ( Fig. 4H ). Neurochaetae arranged in transverse series, 6-8 per neuropodium, five in posterior chaetigers, short anchylosed articles or rings present to the subdistal region. Posterior region slightly tapered, chaetae smaller ( Fig. 4E ); pygidium with anus ventral, a dorsal wide rounded lobe, no anal cirri.

REMARKS

Buskiella McIntosh, 1885 has multiarticulate, long chaetae in both parapodial rami (Salazar-Vallejo & Zhadan 2007). Buskiella borealis Hartman, 1965 does not fit into this genus because it has a tongueshaped branchial plate and anchylosed neurochaetae. Consequently, it is transferred here to Trophoniella . As stated above, T. borealis n. comb. is closely allied to T. bastidai n. sp. They differ because in T.borealis n. comb. the notopodial lobes are restricted to chaetigers 2-3, whereas in T. bastidai n. sp. they reach chaetiger 5, being larger in chaetigers 3-5, and the cephalic cage has less chaetae (5-7 per bundle) than in T. bastidai n. sp. (14-18 per bundle).

Trophoniella capitata ( Nonato, 1966) n. comb. ( Fig. 5 )

Pherusa capitata Nonato, 1966: 71-73 , figs 10-12.

Stylarioides rudis Grube & Müller in Grube, 1877: 67 (type locality: Brazil, Desterro), 71 partim. — Hartwich 1993: 134 partim.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Non-type specimen ( ZMB unnumb.), off Florianopolis (olim Desterro), Santa Catharina Island, Brazil, F. Müller (no further data).

DISTRIBUTION. — Southern Brazil, in shallow water soft bottoms. Nonato (1966) provided measurements for a single specimen collected close to the type locality, off Barra de Rio Grande (32°05’S, 51°48’W), in 18 m, muddy bottom. He stated that he had other specimens from Ubatuba, Brazil, but beyond the chaetiger number, nothing is said about variation ; perhaps he was dealing with different species. Type material was not available. The type material of S. rudis was collected in Desterro , which is now called Florianopolis (27°30’S, 48°30’W), Santa Catharina Island, Brazil, where most of Müller’s specimens came from, but there are no more data .

DESCRIPTION

Body complete ( Fig. 5A ), tapering posteriorly, slightly damaged, 25.5 mm long, 3 mm wide, cephalic cage 3 mm long, 68 chaetigers. Tunic papillated, with large sediment particles on dorsal ( Fig. 5B ) and ventral surfaces ( Fig. 5C ), not completely covering the body surface, sediment especially abundant dorsally and anteriorly; posteriorly almost bare. Papillae sparse, clavate, longer on chaetal lobes.

Cephalic hood slightly exposed, short, margin apparently smooth. Anterior end structure not studied; not dissected to avoid further damage. Some cirriform branchiae exposed, stemming from a tongue-like protuberance.

Cephalic cage chaetae as long as body width. Chaetigers 1-3 involved in the cephalic cage; chaetae arranged in short ventrolateral series; notopodia with 7-8 chaetae, neuropodia with 8, 7, 6 chaetae. Anterior dorsal margin of first chaetiger with a median trifid lobe, projected anteriorly (median tine lost). Anterior chaetigers without especially long papillae. Chaetigers 1-3 of about the same length. Chaetal transition from cephalic cage to body chaetae abrupt; chaetal type change in chaetiger 5. Gonopodial lobes not seen.

Parapodia lateral, poorly developed,chaetae emerging from the body wall. Median neuropodia ventrolateral. Noto- and neuropodia short, chaetal lobes with few papillae; notopodia with three papillae: two shorter, prechaetal, placed towards the border of the chaetal series, another larger papilla, postchaetal, placed by the middle of the chaetal series. Neuropodia with three papillae of about the same size, one prechaetal, placed about the middle of the chaetal series, two postchaetal papillae placed towards the border of the chaetal series. Noto- and neuropodia close to each other.

Median notochaetae arranged in short transverse series, about seven notochaetae per bundle, as long as 1⁄₃ body width; all notochaetae multiarticulated capillaries, articles short basally, medium-sized medially, longer distally ( Fig. 5D ). Neurochaetae multiarticulated capillaries in chaetigers 1-3, articles short. Bidentate neurohooks with long articles, in chaetigers 4-27 ( Fig. 5E , insert), 4-5 per bundle, each with distal piece longer, bidentate, accessory tooth flat, sometimes longer than main tooth. Posterior chaetigers with anchylosed, bidentate hooks, distally smooth, less pigmented ( Fig. 5E ); 4-5 per bundle, each subdistally straight, bidentate, with main tooth falcate, thick, accessory tooth flat, sometimes longer than main one, rings short, present to the subdistal region.

Posterior end tapering to a blunt tip; pygidium with anus ventral, without anal cirri.

REMARKS

Trophoniella capitata n. comb. resembles T. fauveli n. sp. from Egypt: both have large, spread apart sediment particles on dorsal and often lateral surfaces, and their anchylosed neurohooks start in median chaetigers. There are two main differences between them: the presence of notopodial lobes and the start of anchylosed neurohooks. Thus, there are no notopodial lobes in T. capitata n. comb. and its anchylosed neurohooks start by chaetiger 28, whereas in T. fauveli n. sp., notopodial lobes are present and its anchylosed neurohooks start by chaetiger 40.

The type material of Stylarioides rudis from the ZMB contains specimens of two different species; three specimens belong to T. rudis n. comb. (redescribed below), and the other one is conspecific with T. capitata n. comb. In the original diagnosis of S. rudis , nothing was stated about the sediment grains cover, which indicates that Grube concentrated on those specimens without sediment. Because Grube (1877) used the sediment grains cover to group his species, especially if they were cemented over the anterior end, then it can be concluded that he did not study this specimen in enough detail.Further, it seems that when Nonato (1966) described Pherusa capitata , he overlooked Grube’s paper; his species name is retained because the specimen from the type lot differs from those which were used to diagnose S. rudis and fits with T. capitata n. comb. This choice has been made with hesitation and the final decision requires topotype materials; regretfully, type materi - als for some of Nonato species are very difficult to find (P. C. Lana, pers. comm., Oct. 2004).

Figures

FIG. 4. — Trophoniella borealis (Hartman,1965) n. comb.: A, holotype (LACM-AHF 544), first three chaetigers removed (insert: anterior end,dorsal view);B, same,anterior end, ventral view,oral tube and palps exposed;C, paratypes (LACM-AHF 545);D, paratype,anterior end,dorsal view;E, another paratype,posterior end,ventral view;F, another paratype,head,branchiae and palps detached;G, another paratype,chaetiger 10,notopodium (insert:enlarged basal and distal notochaetal regions);H, same,chaetiger 32, neurochaetae (inserts: expanded tips of larger neurohooks).Scale bars:A,9 mm; B,1 mm;C, 1.2 mm;D, 1.6 mm;E, 0.6 mm;F,0.4 mm;G,0.5 mm; H, 200 µm.

FIG. 5. — Trophoniella capitata (Nonato, 1966) n. comb., non-type specimen (ZMB unnumb.): A, dorsal view; B, anterior end, dorsal view; C, anterior end, ventral view; D, chaetiger 11, notopodium (insert: basal, medial and distal notochaetal regions); E, chaetiger 32, neurochaetae (insert: chaetiger 11, neurochaetal tips). Scale bars: A, 2 mm; B, 0.9 mm; C, 0.75 mm; D, 112 µm; E, 50 µm.