Ficopomatus enigmaticus ( Fauvel, 1923 )

Bastida-Zavala, J. Rolando, 2008, Serpulids (Annelida: Polychaeta) from the Eastern Pacific, including a brief mention of Hawaiian serpulids, Zootaxa 1722, pp. 1-61 : 19

Ficopomatus enigmaticus ( Fauvel, 1923)

( Figure 5A)

Mercierella enigmaticus Fauvel, 1923: 424–430 , figs. 1a–o. Type locality: Canal de Caen , France.

Ficopomatus enigmaticus .— ten Hove and Weerdenburg, 1978: 106–109, figs. 1f–i, 3c, 4h–i, q, v–w, ee–ii, xx, 5a–b (revision of the genus).

Material examined. Many specimens (100+): California ( USA), SERC s.v., 39 spec. (approx. 37º46‘N, 122º23‘W, San Francisco and, approx. 32º43’N, 117º13’W, San Diego , PVC fouling plates, 1999–2002); LACM-AHF N1873 , N8835 , many spec. (37º48’N, 122º15’W, Lake Merritt, Oakland, July 27, 1934 and July 24, 1937). Hawaii ( USA), LACM-AHF N5141 , 15 spec. (approx. 21º17’N, 157º50’W, Ala Wai Canal, Honolulu, April 18, 1948, coll. R.W. Hiatt) .

Diagnosis. Gregarious. Tube white, sometimes covered by dark film of algae, lacks longitudinal ridges or alveoli, with peristomes. Opercular peduncle smooth, white; horny distal plate brownish. Operculum fig-like, with horny distal plate and some rows of black spines, curving inwards, sometimes with internal spinules ( Fig. 5A). In some specimens, distal plate completely covered by spines. Collar with coarsely serrated chaetae. Thoracic membranes not fused dorsally.

Habitat. Depth: intertidal to few meters depth. In temperate brackish-water lagoons. Ficopomatus enigmaticus is a fouling and invasive species in California and Hawaii lagoons (cf. ten Hove & Weerdenburg 1978).

Distribution. World-wide in temperate waters. Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean, south of Australia, South Africa, Gulf of Mexico, Argentina; Hawaii and California (ten Hove & Weerdenburg 1978).

Remarks. Ficopomatus enigmaticus is found on fouling plates from the East Coast of United States and San Diego, California (Bastida-Zavala et al. in prep.).