Sphaerosyllis Claparède, 1863

Barroso, Rômulo, Paiva, Paulo Cesar De, Nogueira, João Miguel De Matos & Fukuda, Marcelo Veronesi, 2017, Deep sea Syllidae (Annelida, Phyllodocida) from Southwestern Atlantic, Zootaxa 4221 (4), pp. 401-430 : 414

Genus Sphaerosyllis Claparède, 1863

Type species. Sphaerosyllis hystrix Claparède, 1863 .

Diagnosis. Small bodied specimens, body usually covered by numerous papillae. Palps totally fused or with distal notch. Prostomium with 3 antennae and 2 pairs of eyes, anterior eyespots usually absent. Peristomium with 1 pair of peristomial cirri. Antennae, peristomial and dorsal cirri with similar shape, with bulbous, inflate bases, and narrower, tapering tips. Dorsal cirri usually absent on chaetiger 2. Parapodial glands frequently present, with granular or fibrilar material. Compound chaetae as heterogomph falcigers, usually with short, unidentate blades. Aciculae frequently stout, subdistally bent at ~90°, with acute tips. Pharynx narrow, with opening surrounded by soft, rounded papillae, and conical central tooth at anterior margin; proventricle short, with few, coarse rows of muscle cells. Reproduction by epigamy, with ventral incubation of eggs and embryos.

Remarks. The genus currently counts with 2 formal records for the Brazilian coast, S. annulata Nogueira, San Martín & Fukuda, 2004 and S. brasiliensis Nogueira, San Martín & Amaral, 2001 , plus ~8 other species, from informal records (e.g., Fukuda 2010).