Malmgreniella lunulata (Delle Chiaje, 1830)

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 : 1128-1130

Malmgreniella lunulata (Delle Chiaje, 1830)

(®gure 3A±J) Polynoe lunulata Delle Chiaje, 1830 : plate 79, ®gures 5, 6; Delle Chiaje, 1841a: 57, 62, 106;

Delle Chiaje, 1841b: plate 144, ®gures 5, 6; ClapareÁde, 1868: 373, plate 2, ®gure 1A±F. Harmothoe lunulata: Fauvel, 1923: 70 , ®gure 26a±h [part]. Malmgreniella lunulata: Pettibone, 1993: 35 , ®gure 23; Hartmann-SchroÈder, 1996: 64, ®gure 20.

Type material. No type material available.

Material examined. One specimen, 19 March 1997, Banyuls, Posidonies, 5 m, leg. R. Barnich and D. Fiege, SMF 8914 / 1. One specimen, 2C6, Cortiou (Marseille), SE de l’ eÂgout, 80±85 m, vase sableuse, leg. A. Jojaruria, Coll. Bellan. One specimen,

/ 18 March 1903, Cap d’Ail; 16±90 m, leg. S.A.S. le Prince de Monaco, det. Fauvel

Harmothoe lunulata (redescribed in Pettibone, 1993), MNHN A 396. One specimen, C3.3, Brindisi, Strait of Otranto, 11 m, det. M.C. Gambi as Harmothoe cf. lunulata, Coll. Gambi. Two specimens, 25B12, Puglia, 12 m, det. M.C. Gambi as Harmothoe lunulata, Coll. Gambi. One specimen, AN II 78, 10 July 1935, Israel, Akko, HUJ POLY 459.

Diagnosis. Elytral surface with patch of microtubercles in anterior part, elytral margin smooth. Short and long notochaetae stout with blunt tips and distinct rows

spines; neurochaetae usually all bidentate, upper and middle with long, lower with (or rarely without) short secondary tooth.

Description. Prostomium bilobed, without cephalic peaks; median antenna with ceratophore in anterior notch, style papillate, tapering to ®liform tip; lateral antennae with ceratophores inserted terminoventrally and with short, papillate, tapering styles; palps slightly papillate, stout, tapering; anterior pair of eyes dorsolaterally in front

widest part of prostomium, posterior pair dorsally near hind margin (®gure 3A). Tentaculophores inserted laterally to prostomium, each with a single chaeta on inner side and a pair of papillate dorsal and ventral tentacular cirri, tapering to ®liform tip (®gure 3A). Second segment with ®rst pair of elytra, biramous parapodia, and long ventral buccal cirri, similar to tentacular cirri.

Fifteen pairs of elytra; elytral surface with patch of conical microtubercles in anterior part and few scattered, dark papillae in posterior part, elytral margin smooth; pigmentation variable, mottled or in form of transverse band (®gure 3B, C). Styles of dorsal cirri papillate, tapering to ®liform tip, extending beyond tips of neurochaetae; styles of ventral cirri usually with few papillae, tapering, shorter than neuropodia (®gure 3A, D).

Parapodia biramous, both rami with single aciculum penetrating epidermis; notopodia with short, rounded prechaetal and longer, pointed postchaetal acicular

IG. 3. Malmgreniella lunulata (SMF 8914 / 1): (A) anterior end; dorsal view; (B) right anterior elytron; (C) detail of anterior margin of same; (D) right cirrigerous parapodium of chaetiger 20; tips of acicula broken; posterior view; (E) notochaeta; (F) tip of same; (G) middle neurochaeta; (H) tip of upper neurochaeta; (I) tip of middle neurochaeta; (J) tip of lower neurochaeta (scales5 500 m m for A, B; 100 m m for C, E, G; 250 m m for D; 50 m m for F, H, I, J).

1130 lobe, neuropodia with subconical prechaetal acicular lobe with digitiform supraacicular process and shorter rounded postchaetal lobe (®gure 3D). Short and long notochaetae stout with blunt tips and distinct rows of spines (®gure 3E, F); neurochaetae with distinct rows of spines only in distal part, usually all bidentate, upper and middle with long, lower with (or rarely without) short secondary tooth

gure 3G±J).

Remarks. Since Malmgreniella lunulata has often been confused with other related species, e.g. with M. darbouxi Pettibone, 1993 , M. andreapolis (McIntosh, 1874) , or with M. castanea (McIntosh, 1876) , in the previous literature, all records need to be checked (see also Pettibone, 1993; Chambers and Muir, 1997). These species all show elytra with a patch of microtubercles in the anterior part and smooth margins (®gures 2B, C; 3B, C; 4B, C; 5B, C), but they can be distinguished due to their chaetal characteristics. In M. lunulata all notochaetae are stout with blunt tips and distinct rows of spines, and neurochaetae are usually all bidentate (®gure 3E±J), while in M. darbouxi long notochaetae are slender with pointed tips and short ones are stout with blunt tips, and neurochaetae are bi-and unidentate (®gure 2E±L). Malmgreniella andreapolis and M. castanea have exclusively stout notochaetae, as

M. lunulata , but the notochaetal rows of spines are only faintly developed in these species and the neurochaetae are bi-and unidentate (®gures 4E±J, 5E±J). Malmgreniella arenicolae (Saint-Joseph, 1888) , a species reported from the northeast Atlantic, diOEers mainly by its thick, conical supra-acicular process from M. lunulata , which shows a comparatively small, digitiform one.

Although there has been much confusion regarding Malmgreniella lunulata based partly on the unavailability of type material, Pettibone (1993) unfortunately did not designate a neotype for this species. In our opinion the designation of a neotype should be included in a revision of the genus Malmgreniella , which is a task beyond the purpose of this paper (see also Remarks related to the generic diagnosis).

Measurements. Specimen ®gured (SMF 8914 / 1): L 12 mm, W 2.5 mm for 38 chaetigers.

Distribution. Mediterranean Sea: western Mediterranean, Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean Sea. Elsewhere: reported from the northeast Atlantic (e.g. Fauvel, 1923; Hartmann-SchroÈder, 1996), but due to the confusion with several other Malmgreniella species , all literature records from the Mediterranean and northeast Atlantic are doubtful (see above).

Habitat. Various: between Posidonia rhizomes, on muddy substrata; recorded from 5 to 90 m depth.