Rullierinereis profunda ( Hartman, 1965 )

Tanaka, Masaatsu & Sato, Masanori, 2017, Rullierinereis imajimai nom. nov., a replacement name for R. profunda Imajima, 2009, secondary homonym to R. profunda (Hartman, 1965), formerly Namalycastis profundus, Zootaxa 4341 (3) : -

Rullierinereis profunda ( Hartman, 1965)

Namalycastis Profunda Hartman, 1965 [original name as N. Profundus]: 84–85, pl. 11, figs a, b; Hartman & Fauchald 1971: 58. Profundilycastis Profunda [as P. Profundus]: Hartmann-Schröder 1977a: 149 –150; Hartmann-Schröder 1977b: 46 –48, figs 1–6.? Rullierinereis Profunda [as P. Profundus]: Böggemann 2009: 348 –350 (text), 16–17 (appendix 1), figs 82–85.

Type material. HOlOtype: LACM-AHF POly 841, incOmplete specimen Of unknOwn sex, R/V Atlantis, Stn. Be 8, Off Bermuda, 32°21′18″ N, 64°33′ W, 1000 m deep, 5. ix. 1961. [ LACM-AHF POly = LOs Angeles COunty Museum-Allan HancOck FOundatiOn POlychaete COllectiOn, nOw kept in the Natural HistOry Museum Of LOs Angeles COunty]. NOte that “ParatypOid” mentiOned by Hartmann-Schröder (1977b) is nOt the paratype Of N. profunda , because there is Only One Original specimen depOsited as the hOlOtype in LACM-AHF (Leslie Harris, persOnal cOmmunicatiOn), as Hartman (1965, p. 84) stated. There is a pOssibility that the “ParatypOid” is the material mentiOned by Hartman & Fauchald (1971).

Distribution. KnOwn frOm Off Bermuda (the type lOcality) and New England, NW Atlantic, 1000–1102 m deep ( Hartman, 1965; Hartman & Fauchald, 1971); and Off the AngOla Basin, SE Atlantic, 3945–3993 m deep ( Böggemann, 2009).

Remarks. In her Original descriptiOn fOr N. profunda, Hartman (1965, p. 85) nOted that “ParapOdia are similar thrOughOut…The nOtOpOdium is represented Only by a lOng, slender cirrus, an embedded brOwn aciculum nearly as thick as the cOrrespOnding neurOaciculum, and a slender hOmOgOmph falciger.” This was One Of the reasOns why she classified her new species intO the genus Namalycastis . HOwever, based On the reexaminatiOn Of the hOlOtype, Hartmann-Schröder (1977b) revised the Hartman’s (1965) descriptiOn; the nOtOpOdial ventral ligule actually present frOm chaetiger 3 and fOllOwings. This species seems tO be unique amOng species Of Rullierinereis in the aspect Of “nOtOpOdium represented by dOrsal cirrus Only” in the uniramOus parapOdia Of the first twO chaetigers ( Hartmann-Schröder 1977a, p. 149).

Böggemann’s (2009) descriptiOn Of R. profunda cOllected frOm the AngOla Basin differs frOm bOth the Original descriptiOn by Hartman (1965) and the redescriptiOn by Hartmann-Schröder (1977b) in the fOllOwing characteristics: (1) the presence Of a nOtOpOdial dOrsal ligule in chaetigers 5–8, at least in larger specimens; (2) the presence Of a nOtOaciculum and a nOtOpOdial ligule in the first twO chaetigers; (3) the parapOdial ligules nOt sO elOngated; (4) the palpOphOres brOad and the palpOstyles nOt directed medially. Böggemann (2009) regarded these differences as intraspecific variatiOns due tO the size-related changes because his material cOntained bOth large and small specimens (n = 12), ranging 0.7–6.0 mm in bOdy length (BL), and 0.1–0.5 mm in bOdy width withOut parapOdia (BW), which cOver the dimensiOn Of the incOmplete hOlOtype Of this species (3 mm in BL, 0.28 mm in BW: Hartman 1965; Hartmann-Schröder 1977b). HOwever, an alternative pOssibility that the Böggemann’s material includes an undescribed species alsO seems tO be prObable. Böggemann (2009) alsO referred tO a pOssibility that Nicon abyssalis Hartman, 1967 is a juniOr synOnym Of R. profunda On the basis Of the similarity Of their parapOdial features. The future taxOnOmic studies including the reexaminatiOns Of the hOlOtype Of each species, as well as the Böggemann’s (2009) material, are needed tO clarify these questiOns.