Ficopomatus uschakovi Pillai, 1960

Bastida-Zavala, Rolando & Garcia-Madrigal, Socorro, 2012, First record in the Tropical Eastern Pacific of the exotic species Ficopomatus uschakovi (Polychaeta, Serpulidae), ZooKeys 238, pp. 45-55 : 46-48

Ficopomatus uschakovi Pillai, 1960 Figs 1 A–E, 2 A–I

Neopomatus uschakovi Pillai, 1960: 28-32, text-figs 10H, 11 A–H, 12 A–H, plate I, figs 1-2; Pillai 2008: 43-49, Fig 5-6, reinstated the genus Neopomatus .

Neopomatus uschakovi var. lingayanensis Pillai, 1965: 170-172, Fig. 23 A–I. Type locality: Lingayan Gulf, Luzon Island, Philippines.

Neopomatus similis Pillai, 1960: 32-33, text-figs 12 I–M, plate II, fig. 1. Type locality: Negombo Lagoon, Sri Lanka.

Neopomatus similis var. rugosus Pillai, 1960: 33-35, plate II, fig. 2. Type locality: Negombo Lagoon, Sri Lanka.

Mercierella enigmatica (not Fauvel, 1923): Several examples of incorrect use of this name have been studied by ten Hove and Weerdenburg 1978: 109-110.

Ficopomatus uschakovi : ten Hove and Weerdenburg 1978: 109-112, figs 2 a–d, 3a, f–k, 4 j–n, r, x–z, jj–mm, yy, 5d, revision; de Assis et al. 2008: 51-58, Fig. 2 A–G, Brazil; Liñero-Arana and Díaz-Díaz 2012: 234-237, fig. 1 a–j, Venezuela.

Type locality.

Panadura River estuary, Madu Ganga estuary at Balapitiya and Ratgama Lake at Dodanduwa, Sri Lanka.

Material examined.

Chiapas, South Pacific of Mexico. Five specimens (ECOSUR), three specimens (UANL), more than 100 specimens (UMAR-Poly 112), La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve, Barra San Juan, 15°09'58"N, 92°51'12"W, 0.5-1 m, submerged mangrove root ( Rhizophora mangle ), September 21, 2011, Rolando Bastida-Zavala et al. leg. Five specimens (ECOSUR), 20 specimens (UMAR-Poly 113), La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve, Zacapulco, 15°11'37"N, 92°53'22"W, on rotting mangrove root and gastropod shell, 0-0.5 m, September 21, 2011, Rolando Bastida-Zavala et al. leg.

Topotypical material.

Two specimens (LACM-AHF N10947), Panadura River estuary, Sri Lanka, brackish water (donated by T.G. Pillai), October 9, 1961.

Description.

Mass occurrence is present (Fig. 2A, D); however, some specimens were solitary (Fig. 2E). The tube colour varies from pink to red in live material, changing to white, brown or orange in preserved material (Fig. 2 D–E). They possess several prominent to shallow peristomes (Fig. 2D) or only low growth rings (annulations, Fig. 2E), but lack longitudinal ridges and alveoli.

The body is yellow; with 6-7 dark bands on the radioles (preserved material, Figs 1A, 2F). The thorax has five dark bands on the lateral side, between the notopodial bundles, although sometimes these bands are blurred. TL=6.7 mm (n=10, r:4-6.7, µ =5.2 ± 1); THL=2 mm (n=10, r:1.4-2, µ =1.7 ± 0.2); THW=0.7 mm (n=10, r:0.5-0.7, µ =0.6 ± 0.1). The branchial crown has nine radioles (n=10, r:6-9, µ =7.4 ± 0.8) on the left, and eight on the right (n=10, r:7-9, µ =8 ± 0.7). Interradiolar membrane absent.

The peduncle is smooth, inserted in the left branchial lobe; lacks a constriction (Fig. 1 D–E); OL=1.8 mm (n=9, r:1-1.9, µ =1.6 ± 0.4). The operculum is spherical to oval in shape, with a slightly convex, flat or slightly concave horny plate (Fig. 1 B–E). OD=0.6 mm (n=9, r:0.5-0.8, µ =0.6 ± 0.1). The end plate bears 1-5 concentric rows of spines (Fig. 2H); the rows are sometimes incomplete or converge with the other rows. The spines are transparent (Fig. 2I).

The collar is entire, with well-developed lobes. The collar chaetae include coarsely serrated chaetae and hooded (capillary) chaetae. The thoracic membranes are fused dorsally, ventrally forming a small apron. The thorax has six chaetigers with hooded (limbate) chaetae, and saw-shaped uncini. A short achaetous region is present between the thorax and abdomen. Most of the abdominal segments possess geniculate chaetae and rasp-shaped uncini.

Distribution.

Originally limited to Indo-West Pacific and Gulf of Guinea ( ten Hove and Weerdenburg 1978), the species was also recorded in some isolated areas of the tropical and subtropical Western Atlantic: Sossego Creek, Brazil ( de Assis et al. 2008), Morocoto Creek, Venezuela ( Liñero-Arana and Díaz-Díaz 2012) (Fig. 3A) and several sites in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (Bastida-Zavala et al. in prep.). There have been new records in Chiapas coast, Southern Pacific of Mexico (Fig. 3B).

Ecology.

Depth: Intertidal to 1 m. On mangrove roots (Fig. 2A, C) and on the shell of the gastropod Thaisella kiosquiformis (Duclos, 1832) (Fig. 2B); coastal lagoon with salinity ranges approximately 20-35 o/oo. On shells, stones and petiole bases of coconut leaves in the topotypical area ( Pillai 1960); on submerged piece of bamboo, with salinity ranges approximately 4-11 o/oo in Brazil records ( de Assis et al. 2008).

Reproductive characters.

Two specimens (TL=4 mm and 4.2 mm) have masses of sperm glued to the abdomen (Fig. 2G); however, eggs have not been found in the specimens studied in detail (n=10).

Remarks.

The specimens of Ficopomatus uschakovi from Chiapas are slightly bigger than the topotypical specimens (TL=4-4.2 mm, THL=1.1-1.4 mm, THW=0.7-0.8 mm, OL=1.1-1.2, OD=0.3-0.5 mm); however, the rest of the morphological characteristics are very similar.

Apart from the spines of the operculum, the main character that separates Ficopomatus uschakovi from Ficopomatus enigmaticus and Ficopomatus miamiensis is the dorsally fused thoracic membranes. This autapomorphy of Ficopomatus uschakovi is regarded to be of generic level by Pillai (2008), but is not followed by us.

In the local community the serpulid tubes on the mangroves are called ‘broca’ (more or less ‘drill’), just like all other sessile invertebrates with calcareous covers, such as barnacles and oysters.