Palola Lizard

Schulze, Anja, 2015, Six genetically distinct clades of Palola (Eunicidae, Annelida) from Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Zootaxa 4019 (1), pp. 695-706 : 700-701

Palola Lizard Island Clade 3

( Fig. 3 A–B)

Material examined. AM W.44407, MI QLD 2390, sequenced and photographed; AM W.44829, MI QLD 2424; AM W.44641, MI QLD 2413.

Description. Specimens thin and threadlike. Anterior fragment of AM W.44407 was closely examined ( Fig. 3 A, B): 15 mm long, 1.5 mm wide, with 67 chaetigers. No branchiae or ventral eyespots present. Mandibles protruding from mouth and relatively thin with a smooth, unserrated anterior margin ( Fig. 3 B). Maxillae not examined. Head and body with faint, relatively uniform brown pigment dorsally on prostomium, peristomium and anterior chaetigers. Antennae, palps and peristomial and parapodial cirri without pigment. Antennae and palps wrinkled, tapering and with pointy tip. Median antenna reaching chaetiger 2, lateral antennae chaetiger 1 and palps second peristomial ring. Tapering peristomial cirri reaching forward to about ¾ of the anterior peristomial ring. Eyes dark, round to oval shaped and nestled between lateral antennae and palps. Acicula brown. Other chaetae not examined.

Remarks. Clade 3 is morphologically very similar to clade 4. Both belong to species group A, are thin and threadlike and have faint brown dorsal pigmentation in the anterior body regions, and have mandibles with smooth anterior margins. The two can be distinguished by the relative length of their antennae. Whereas in clade 3 the median and lateral antennae are similar in length, in clade 4 the lateral antennae are only ~2/3 the length of the median antenna. The two clades differ by over 20% in COI sequence divergence.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Palola Lizard Island clades 3 (A, B), 4 (C, D) and 5 (E, F). All material ethanol-preserved. A. Palola Lizard Island clade 3, AM W. 44407, dorsal view; B. Palola Lizard Island clade 3, same specimen as in A, lateral view; C. Palola Lizard Island clade 4, AM W. 44653, dorsal view; D. Palola Lizard Island clade 4, same specimen as in C, ventro-lateral view; E. Palola Lizard Island clade 5, AM W. 44146, dorsal view; F. Palola Lizard Island clade 5, same specimen as in E, lateral view. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.