Malmgreniella polypapillata, Barnich & Fiege, 2001

Barnich, R. & Fiege, D., 2001, Mediterranean species of Malmgreniella Hartman, 1967 Polychaeta: Polynoidae: Polynoinae), including the description of a species, Journal of Natural History 35, pp. 1119-1142 : 1135-1138

Malmgreniella polypapillata sp. nov.

(®gure 6A±K) Malmgrenia sp. : Intes and Le LoeuOE, 1975: 273, ®gure 1a±i.

Type material. Malmgreniella polypapillata , HOLOTYPE: 20 March 1997, Banyuls, Vase coÃtieÁre, 35 m, leg. R. Barnich and D. Fiege, SMF 8915 / 1. PARATYPES: One specimen (af), 2C6, Cortiou (Marseille), SE de l’ eÂgout, 80±85 m, vase sableuse, leg. A. Jojaruria, don. G. Bellan, MNHN-Poly46. One specimen (af), AT25C12, Puglia, Posidonia , 12 m, det. M. C. Gambi as Harmothoe cf. castanea , don.

. C. Gambi, BMNH 2000.929.

Diagnosis. Elytral surface covered more or less completely by microtubercles, outer lateral elytral margin with many long papillae, posterior margin with shorter papillae. Neurochaetae all unidentate, tapering to long, pointed tips.

Description. Prostomium bilobed, without cephalic peaks; median antenna with ceratophore in anterior notch, style papillate, tapering to ®liform tip; lateral antennae 1136 IG. 6. Malmgreniella polypapillat a sp. nov: (A, B) paratype, MNHN-Poly46; (C±K) holotype, SMF 8915 / 1; (A) anterior end; dorsal view; (B) anterior end; ventral view; (C) right middle elytron; (D) detail of lateral margin of same; (E) right cirrigerous parapodium of chaetiger 12; posterior view; (F) notochaeta; (G) tip of same; (H) middle neurochaeta; (I) distal part of upper neurochaeta; (J) distal part of middle neurochaeta; (K) distal part of lower neurochaeta (scales 5 500 m m for A, B, C; 100 m m for D, F, H; 250 m m for E; 50 m m for G, I, J, K).

with ceratophores inserted terminoventrally and with short, papillate, tapering styles; palps slightly papillate, long, tapering; anterior pair of eyes dorsolaterally in front

widest part of prostomium, posterior pair dorsally near hind margin gure 6A, B). Tentaculophores inserted laterally to prostomium, each with one or two chaetae on inner side and with a pair of papillate dorsal and ventral tentacular cirri, tapering to ®liform tip (®gure 6A, B). Second segment with ®rst pair of elytra, biramous parapodia, and long ventral buccal cirri, similar to tentacular cirri.

Probably 15 pairs of elytra (only complete specimen, i.e. holotype, with 14 elytra for 33 chaetigers; see measurements); elytral surface covered more or less completely

conical microtubercles, outer lateral elytral margin with many long papillae, posterior margin with shorter papillae; short papillae ocurring also on surface, near outer lateral margin; faint pigmentation in form of isolated spot near place of attachment of elytrophore and C-shaped band on outer lateral part; in ®rst elytra only C-shaped band present (®gure 6C, D). Styles of dorsal cirri papillate, tapering

®liform tip, extending to tips of neurochaetae; styles of ventral cirri with few papillae, tapering, shorter than neuropodia (®gure 6A, E).

Parapodia biramous, both rami with single aciculum penetrating epidermis; notopodia with short, rounded prechaetal and longer, pointed postchaetal acicular lobe, neuropodia with subconical prechaetal acicular lobe with digitiform supraacicular process and shorter rounded postchaetal lobe (®gure 6E). Notochaetae about as stout as neurochaetae, with distinct rows of spines and blunt tips gure 6F, G); neurochaetae with rows of spines only in distal part, tapering to long, pointed, unidentate tips (®gure 6H±K).

Remarks. Intes and Le LoeuOE (1975) described two incomplete specimens from oOE CoÃte d’Ivoire as Malmgrenia sp. Unfortunately, this material was not available for study, but the ®gures and description given by the authors suggest that these specimens probably also belong to the new species Malmgreniella polypapillata

. nov.

Malmgreniella polypapillata sp. nov. can be clearly distinguished from all other known Malmgreniella species by the conical microtubercles covering the elytral surface almost completely, the presence of numerous papillae on the lateral and posterior elytral margin, and the exclusively unidentate neurochaetae, tapering to long, pointed tips (®gure 6C, D, H±K). In the Mediterranean Sea, only M. ljungmani shows elytra covered by microtubercles, but in this species there are only few scattered papillae present on the elytral margin and the neurochaetae are usually bidentate, with distinct secondary tooth and short tip (®gure 7B, C, G±J). Two other species, reported only from the Atlantic Ocean up to now, may be confused with

. polypapillata sp. nov., i.e. M. mcintoshi (Tebble and Chambers, 1982) and

. taylori Pettibone, 1993 , since they show a distinct fringe of papillae on the elytral margin. But, in M. mcintoshi elytra have only a patch of microtubercles in the anterior part, the neuropodial supra-acicular process is absent, and neurochaetae are bi- and unidentate, while M. taylori shows very delicate elytra without microtubercles, but with prominent`veins’, and neuropodia with bulbous supra-acicular process (see Tebble and Chambers, 1982; Pettibone, 1993).

Measurements. Holotype (Banyuls, SMF 8915 / 1): L 11 mm, W 2.5 mm (in three fragments) for 33 chaetigers (probably small adult, or juvenile with fourteen elytra only); paratype from Cortiou (MNHN-Poly46): L 3 mm, W 2.5 mm for 11 chaetigers; paratype from Puglia (BMNH 2000.929): L 4 mm, W 2.5 for 14 chaetigers.

1138 Distribution. Mediterranean Sea: western Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea.

Elsewhere: probaby also in the northeast Atlantic: oOE CoÃte d’Ivoire (cf. Intes and

Le LoeuOE, 1975). Habitat. On muddy substrata and between Posidonia rhizomes, recorded from to 85 m depth. Etymology. The name of the species refers to the numerous papillae on the

elytral margin.