Chloeia flava (Pallas, 1766)

Fig. 6

Aphrodita flava Pallas, 1766: 97–102, Pl. 8, Figs 7–11.

Chloeia flava .– Horst 1912: 18–19, Pl. 7, Fig. 2; Fauvel 1953: 96, Fig. 46a; Day 1967: 124, Fig. 3.1r.

Type material. Type specimens were not deposited.

Additional material. [ USNM 46277] Kottayam, India, 12 Jul. 1970, D. K. Massey, coll. (5) . [USMN 17480] Sulu Archipielago, Tumindao Island, R / V Albatross, Philippines Expedition, 25 Feb. 1908 (2).

Diagnosis. Chloeia with ventral cirri of similar size throughout body; bipinnate branchiae from chaetiger 4; dorsum with a round, blackish spot surrounded by pale areas per segment; chaetal bundles homogeneously pale.

Description. Best preserved specimen (USNM 46277) complete, 85 mm long, 15 mm wide, 38 chaetigers. Body fusiform; dorsal pigmentation pattern consists of a central dark brown circle or round spot per segment positioned towards posterior border of each segment, and brown pigmentation around the lateral side under branchiae and notochaetal lobes of prededent segments (Fig. 6A, C). Chaetae yellowish.

Prostomium semicircular with four black eyes, anterior eyes 2–3× larger than posterior ones (Fig. 6B). Median antenna arising from anterior caruncle region, longer than lateral antennae and palps. Caruncle with a V-shaped posterior margin (5.5 mm long); median lobe with about 30 folds. Lateral basal lobes spread, each with a similar number of folds, without pigmentation. Mouth ventral on chaetiger 3. Bipinnate branchiae from chaetiger 4, present throughout body.

Parapodia biramous. Notopodia with cirriform branchiae along chaetigers 1–4, progressively decreasing in size, subsequent chaetigers with branchiae bipinnate. Cirriform branchiae present in chaetiger 4 smaller than preceding ones. Neuropodia with second ventral cirri as long as contiguous ones.

Neurochaetae furcates; relative length of tines 1:3–1:4 (Fig. 6D). Notochaetae with serrated external border, short tine very short, like a spur (Fig. 6E–G). Serrated external border consists of few teeth (3–8) or border completely serrated with more than 20 denticles (Fig. 6E–F).

Remarks. The original description by Pallas (1766) is adequate with good illustrations, but does not include chaetal features, probably due to lack of microscopes without spheric aberrations. However, chaetal features were illustrated later by M’Intosh (1885). Thus, the delimitation of this species is rather settled, and several authors provided complete characterizations (Horst 1912; Fauvel 1953; Day 1967). However, the record by Treadwell (1923) from San Francisquito Bay, Baja California, in the Gulf of California, is questionable because he only provided species name, without any comment about its appearance. Consequently, some illustrations of this species are herein provided to facilitate its identification and to avoid future misidentifications in Eastern Pacific waters. We think Treadwell might have found C. pseudeuglochis Augener, 1922, which was described some time before his contribution was sent for publication (see below).

Distribution. Indian Ocean, in shallow water sediments.