Trophoniella reishi, SALAzAR-Vallejo, 2012

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

Trophoniella reishi n. sp.

( Fig. 23 )

TYPE MATERIAL. — Eastern tropical Pacific, Gulf of California. Holotype ( ECOSUR-114 ) and 14 paratypes (3 in BMNH, 5 in ECOSUR, 3 in LACM-AHF, 3 in MNHN), Playa Las Moradas (28°56’25”N, 113°33’20”W), Bahía de Los Angeles, Baja California, Mexico, mixed bottoms, sand and rocks, low intertidal, 25.V.1986, S. I. Salazar-Vallejo (paratypes: 5-30 mm long, 1.5-4.0 mm wide, cephalic cage 3-8 mm long, 32-65 chaetigers; first neurohooks in chaetiger 5-6; some with remains of a thin, pale crust).

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL. — Eastern tropical Pacific. 1 specimen ( UANL), Isla Coronado (26°70’N, 111°17’00”W), off Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico, intertidal, 15.X.1998, J. A. de León-González (12 mm long, 2.5 mm wide, cephalic cage 5 mm long, 53 chaetigers).

TYPE LOCALITY. — Bahía de Los Angeles, Baja California, Gulf of California, Mexico, in the intertidal zone of a mixed (rock and sand) beach.

DISTRIBUTION. — Northwestern coast of the Gulf of California, only known from the type locality, in intertidal areas in mixed shores.

ETYMOLOGY. — The specific name is derived after Dr Donald J. Reish in recognition of his many publications on polychaetes, some dealing with taxonomy but most devoted to ecology and pollution ecology, and especially in recognition of his publication on the ecology of the polychaetes from Bahía de Los Angeles, Gulf of California ( Reish 1968), where the type material was collected.

DESCRIPTION

Holotype ( ECOSUR-114 ) complete, barely fusiform, tapering posteriorly ( Fig. 23A ), pale-brown, 33 mm long, 3 mm wide, cephalic cage 8.5 mm long, 62 chaetigers.Tunic almost without sediment particles, with a thin, partially eroded ochre crust ( Fig. 23B, D ), smaller paratypes without crust ( Fig. 23E ). Body papillae abundant, most thin, small, fragile, digitate, many eroded; larger papillae clavate, arranged in longitudinal rows (two dorsal, one lateral and four ventral).

Anterior end observed in one paratype (ECOSUR). Cephalic hood short, margin smooth. Prostomium low, eyes small, black; caruncle well developed, separating the branchial plate in two halves, lateral ridges pale, medial keel darker, basally straight. Palps thick, large, ventrally corrugated, palp bases low, rounded. Lips distorted by the eversion of the pharynx tube. Branchiae cirriform, pale, sessile on a tongue-like protuberance; arranged in two lateral groups, each with filaments in 6-7 longitudinal rows per side, over 100 filaments per group. Basal branchiae as long as palps. Nephridial lobes not seen.

Cephalic cage chaetae as long as ¼ body length, or 3 times longer than body width. Chaetigers 1-3 involved in the cephalic cage, chaetae arranged in short dorsolateral series; chaetiger 1 with 11-12 noto- and six neurochaetae per bundle, chaetiger 2 with eight noto- and six neurochaetae per side, chaetiger 3 with six chaetae per bundle. Anterior dorsal margin of first chaetiger with a median lobe, projected anteriorly ( Fig. 23C ), with three large distal papillae. Anterior chaetigers with long papillae. Chaetigers 1-3 progressively longer. Chaetal transition from cephalic cage to body chaetae abrupt, falcate anchylosed neurohooks start in chaetiger 5. Gonopodial lobes not seen.

Parapodia lateral, poorly developed; chaetae emerging from the body wall. Median neuropodia ventrolateral. Noto- and neuropodia not forming long lobes; anterior parapodia with abundant, long papillae. Median notopodia with 1-2 infrachaetal, smaller papillae, and one notochaetal, larger papilla ( Fig. 23F ). Neuropodia with one infrachaetal and 1-2 suprachaetal papillae.

Median notochaetae arranged in short transverse series, 7-8 notochaetae per bundle, about as long as 1⁄₂-1⁄₃ body width; all notochaetae multiarticulated capillaries, each with articles short basally, mediumsized medially, slighlty longer distally ( Fig. 23G ). Neurochaetae multiarticulated capillaries in chaetigers 1-4, all articles short, in chaetiger 4 with falcate tip. Falcate, anchylosed, darker neurohooks from chaetiger 5, neurohooks in chaetigers 5-6 almost straight; shorter, falcate neurohooks from chaetiger 7 ( Fig. 23H ); all neurohooks arranged in transverse series, or as inverted J-patterns, 4-5 in anterior and posterior chaetigers, 5-6 in median chaetigers, each with short, well-marked anchylosed articles or rings in the embedded part, and less defined in the exposed part, blade pale, tapering, tip falcate, entire.

Posterior end tapering to a blunt rounded tip; pygidium with anus terminal, almost without papillae; no anal cirri.

REMARKS

Trophoniella reishi n. sp. is closely allied to T. rudis n. comb. because they have anchylosed, unidentate neurohooks from early chaetigers, and because their tunic barely has sediment particles, being apparently naked. They differ by the relative basic body wall pigmentation and the cephalic cage length. Thus, in T. reishi n. sp., the body is dark pink, with fine red spots or rarely pale, and the cephalic cage is twice as long as body width, whereas in T. rudis n. comb. the body is solid brown, and the cephalic cage chaetae are 1.0-1.5 times longer than body width.

Trophoniella rigida ( Caullery, 1944) n. comb. ( Fig. 24 )

Brada rigida Caullery, 1944: 39 , fig. 30. — Bleeker & Van der Spoel 1992: 126.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Eastern Indian Ocean. 3 syntypes ( ZMA 1523), Indonesia, Irian Jaya, R/V Siboga expedition, stn 163, Strait Selee (= Galewo), W entrance, near Seget anchorage, 29 m, dredge, reef exploration, sand and stones, 18-20.VIII.1899.

DISTRIBUTION. — Only known from the type locality.

DESCRIPTION

Syntypes variously damaged; most chaetae broken, papillae eroded ( Fig.24A ).Body cylindrical, tapering anteriorly, posteriorly rounded, 16-32 mm long, 1.0- 2.5 mm wide, cephalic cage 0.5-1.5 mm long, 22-37 chaetigers.Tunic with abundant sand particles dorsally and ventrally, most blackish, more densely in smallest syntype, less densely in largest one. Body papillae scarcely visible, arranged in longitudinal series, four dorsally, two ventrally.

Cephalic hood exposed in one syntype, short, margin crenulated; other features observed by dissection. Prostomium low; eyes not seen. Caruncle thin, depressed, reaching the branchial plate margin. Palps pale, thick, half as long as branchiae; palp keels reduced. Lateral lips fused to dorsal lip, middorsally split; ventral lip well developed, projected anteriorly. Lips projected forming an oral tube. Branchiae cirriform, sessile on a tongue-like protuberance, separated in two lateral groups, each with branchiae arranged in oblique rows, 20-22 filaments per group, most twice as long as palps ( Fig. 24E ). Nephridial lobes not seen.

Cephalic cage present;most chaetae broken,remaining ones short, shorter than body width ( Fig. 24B, C ). Apparently only chaetigers 1-2 involved in the cephalic cage; chaetae arranged in short ventrolateral series, with about 4-6 chaetae per bundle. Anterior dorsal margin of first chaetiger smooth.Chaetigers 1-3 becoming slightly longer posteriorly. Chaetal transition from cephalic cage to body chaetae abrupt; anchylosed neurohooks from chaetiger 5 (in smallest syntype). Gonopodial lobes not visible.

Parapodia poorly developed; chaetae emerging from the body wall. Parapodia lateral; median neuropodia ventrolateral. Noto- and neuropodia long lobes, each with one suprachaetal, one infrachaetal and another papilla inferior to the latter, so each chaetal bundle with a superior papilla and two inferior ones in a row, directed ventrally.

Median notochaetae arranged in short longitudinal series, 5-7 per bundle, about as long as 1⁄₅ body width; all notochaetae multiarticulated capillaries, dark yellow, articles short basally, medium-sized in a short medial region, subsequently long to the chaetal tips.Neurochaetae multiarticulated capillaries in chaetigers 1-4; anchylosed neurohooks from chaetiger 5, arranged in transverse series, 4-5 per bundle. Each neurohook dark yellow, with short articles basally and medially, distally yellow, not ringed, tips bifid ( Fig. 24G ), often eroded.

Posterior end truncated, rounded ( Fig. 24D ); pygidium retracted; anus terminal, no anal cirri.

REMARKS

Trophoniella rigida n. comb. was originally described in Brada Stimpson, 1854 , but its branchial plate and anchylosed neurochaetae rather fit what is found in species belonging to Trophoniella , hence the new combination.

Trophoniella rigida n. comb. resembles T. grandis n. comb. as both have sediment particles covering dorsal and ventral surfaces; they differ by the relative size of sediment grains, development of dorsal tubercles and start of neurohooks. Thus, in T. rigida n. comb., sediment grains are large, its anterior chaetigers have no dorsal tubercles, and neurohooks start from chaetiger 5, whereas in T. grandis n. comb. sediment grains are small, its anterior chaetigers have dorsal tubercles, and neurohooks start in chaetiger 7.

Figures

FIG. 23.— Trophoniella reishi n. sp.:A, holotype (ECOSUR-114),lateral view;B, same,anterior end,lateral view;C, same,anterior end,dorsal view;D, same,posterior end,lateral view;E, paratype (ECOSUR),lateral view;F, same,chaetiger 10,notopodium;G, same,notochaetal basal, medial and distal regions; H, same, chaetiger 20, neurochaetae. Scale bars: A, 2.5 mm; B, 0.86 mm; C, 0.9 mm; D, 1.4 mm; E, 3.5 mm; F, 0.3 mm; G, 30 µm; H, 78 µm.

FIG. 24. — Trophoniella rigida (Caullery, 1944) n. comb., syntypes (ZMA 1523): A, anterior ends of syntypes, lateral or dorsal views; B, larger syntype,anterior end,dorsal view; C, smaller syntype,anterior end,dorsal view; D, larger syntype,posterior end,dorsal view; E, branchial plate from medium-sized syntype, frontal view; F, medium-sized syntype, notopodium from chaetiger 11 (inserts: basal, median and distal regions); G, same syntype, neuropodium from chaetiger 21 (inserts: basal, median and distal regions). Scale bars: A, 1.5 mm; B, 1 mm; C, D, 0.5 mm; E, 0.3 mm; F, 200 µm; G, 115 µm.