Armandia melanura Gravier, 1905

Parapar, Julio, Al-Kandari, Manal & Moreira, Juan, 2025, The genus Armandia Filippi, 1861 (Annelida, Opheliidae) on the coast of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Zootaxa 5728 (1), pp. 107-143 : 117-121

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5728.1.4
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5F864A97-59BA-4972-92BD-137555D1FD27
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B70F11-FFD9-FFC5-FF38-E93C74E8FD6D
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Armandia melanura Gravier, 1905
status

Treatment

Armandia melanura Gravier, 1905 View in CoL

Figures 1 View FIGURE 1 , 8–10 View FIGURE 8 View FIGURE 9 View FIGURE 10 , 12 View FIGURE 12 ; Table 1

Armandia melanura Gravier, 1905: 89-91 View in CoL .

Armandia melanura Gravier – Fishelson 1971: 128 View in CoL .— Gibbs 1972: 215.— Kristensen 1973: 154, fig. (not numbered).— Baron & Clavier 1994: 3.— Eibye-Jacobsen 2002: 66 (as A. cf. melanura View in CoL ).

Material examined. Ten specimens in four samples collected in two localities on the south coast of Kuwait ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 ; Tab. 1).

Diagnosis. Parapodia biramous, with prechaetal lobe triangular throughout and ventral lobe low; no dorsal cirrus. Lateral eyespots anterior to parapodia on 10 chaetigers ( CH 6– CH 15). Anal tube short; tube opening provided with unpaired anal cirrus and three pairs of short marginal papillae 0.5 times as long as dorsal anal tube length; basal papillae not present.

The original description mentions the shape of the branchiae (“… s'insère une longue branchie cirriforme terminée en pointe...”) but does not include the range of distribution. Eibye-Jacobsen (2002) studying specimens from Andaman Sea ( Thailand) reports branchiae located between CH 2 and CH 26 for specimens bearing 29 chaetigers and CH 2– CH 29(30) for those with 31 chaetigers; he states that these features suggest that two different species might be involved. However, Eibye-Jacobsen (2002) assigned provisionally all this material to A. cf. melanura because these specimens shared the same shape of the anal tube, the presence of pigment spots and a similar prostomial palpode.

Description. Complete specimens ranging from 5.0–13.0 mm in length and 0.8–1.0 mm in width for 29/30 chaetigers. Body slender, slightly tapering towards anterior end ( Fig. 8A View FIGURE 8 ). Prostomium conical, palpode short and clavate ( Figs 8A View FIGURE 8 , 9–B View FIGURE 9 ). Three dark brown prostomial eyes (one dorsal and two lateral; Fig. 8A View FIGURE 8 ). One pair of large nuchal organs ( Figs 8A View FIGURE 8 , 9A, C View FIGURE 9 ). Pharynx partially everted only in smaller specimen; oral tentacles not seen. Parapodia biramous ( Figs 8B–I View FIGURE 8 , 9D–F View FIGURE 9 , 10A–C View FIGURE 10 ), with prechaetal lobe and ventral lobe ( Figs 8B–I View FIGURE 8 , 10A, C View FIGURE 10 ); dorsal cirrus not present; prechaetal lobes symmetrical and slightly pointed in posteriormost chaetigers ( Figs 8I View FIGURE 8 , 10C View FIGURE 10 ). Lateral eyespots anterior to parapodia on CH 6/7– CH 16/17 ( Fig. 8A View FIGURE 8 ), dark orange, horizontally oval, those of CH 6/7 and CH 16/17 smaller than others. Simple, very long capillary chaetae in two bundles; notochaetae slightly longer than neurochaetae in anterior and posterior chaetigers ( Figs 8A–B View FIGURE 8 , 9A View FIGURE 9 , 10A–C View FIGURE 10 ) and longer in mid-body ( Fig. 9D–F View FIGURE 9 ). Ventral groove deep, well defined along all body length ( Fig. 8J View FIGURE 8 ). Branchiae present from CH 2 to CH 27/28, not reaching dorsal midline ( Figs 8A View FIGURE 8 , 9D–F View FIGURE 9 , 10B View FIGURE 10 ). Anal tube dorsal length as long as width at base and as long as last three chaetigers ( Fig. 8B View FIGURE 8 ). Opened ventro-posteriorly, laterally compressed. Posterior border provided with 3(4) pairs of short marginal papillae of similar length ( Figs 8J View FIGURE 8 , 10D View FIGURE 10 ), about 0.5 times as long as dorsal anal tube length; internal unpaired smooth anal cirrus only seen in larger specimens, about twice as long as anal tube length; basal papillae not present ( Fig. 8J View FIGURE 8 ). Dorsal unpaired anal papilla present in some specimens ( Fig. 8J View FIGURE 8 ). Lateral parapodial area, last chaetigers, anal tube and anal unpaired dorsal and paired marginal papillae with brown spots.

Variation. The examined specimens exhibit slight variations in the distribution of branchiae and lateral eyespots, fitting well within the original description by Gravier (1905). The characteristic pigmentation of the anal tube in A. melanura is only retained in the largest specimens from Kuwait, extending to the last chaetigers; pigmentation may have faded in smaller individuals due to preservation in ethanol.

Distribution / Habitat. Armandia melanura was originally described from the Gulf of Aden (West Arabian Sea; Gravier 1905) and later reported in the Cook Islands (South Pacific Ocean; Gibbs 1972), in mangroves at the Red Sea ( Fishelson 1971), the coast of Elat ( Israel; Kristensen 1973), in sandy beaches of New Caledonia (SW Pacific Ocean; Baron & Clavier 1994), and in subtidal muddy sand in the Andaman Sea (NW Indian Ocean ; Eibye-Jacobsen 2002, as A. cf. melanura ). The species has also been included in the checklists by Hartman (1974) and Wehe & Fiege (2002) ( Fig. 12 View FIGURE 12 ).

Specimens have been collected in two localities at the southern coast of Kuwait in intertidal sand-rock associated with algae ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 , Tab. 1).

Remarks. Gravier (1905) characterises A. melanura according to the following characters: 1) 29 chaetigers, 2) simple parapodia that seem bilobed because of the prominent triangular ventral lobe, 3) lateral eyespots present between CH 6 and CH 15, 4) distal body end and anal tube pigmented, and 5) anal tube provided with three pairs of pigmented papillae. Kuwait specimens only differ from the original description in also bearing eyespots in CH 16.

Eibye-Jacobsen (2002) reports A. cf. melanura from the Andaman Sea and notes that these specimens are more closely aligned with the description given by Gibbs (1972) for material collected in the Cook Islands. Eibye-Jacobsen (2002) describes an “elongate tip” in prechaetal lobes of anterior chaetigers (cfr. fig. 8B) that is not present in the type series nor in Kuwait specimens. Besides, the drawing showing the small “ventral cirrus” posteroventral to neuropodium is wrongly referred to figure 5C (corresponding to A. andamana Eibye-Jacobsen, 2002 ); the right illustration for A. cf. melanura is likely to correspond instead to figure 8C (median parapodium), that shows the typical “triangular shape” of the ventral lobe in this species (this work: Fig. 8C View FIGURE 8 ). Furthermore, the number, length and shape of anal tube papillae of A. cf. melanura (cfr. Eibye-Jacobsen 2002: fig. 6C) do not match with the original description of the species and Kuwait specimens. Therefore, these specimens might correspond to other species that also share with A. melanura a similar pigmentation pattern in the anal tube.