Vermiliopsis glandigerus Gravier, 1906

Sun, Yanan, Ten, Harry A. & Qiu, Jian-Wen, 2012, Serpulidae (Annelida: Polychaeta) from Hong Kong, Zootaxa 3424, pp. 1-42 : 37-38

Vermiliopsis glandigerus Gravier, 1906

( Figure 14 L, Figure 18 A–E)

Vermiliopsis glandigerus Gravier, 1906: 121 .

Vermiliopsis glandigera — Pillai 2009: 104 –108.

Vermiliopsis infundibulum / glandigera group—Imajima 1976a: 139–141; Mak 1982: 610–611; Imajima and ten Hove 1984: 59; Fiege and Sun 1999: 134 –135; Sun and Yang 2001a: 203 –204.

Material examined. AM W41415, 2 specimens (22°21’N, 114°17’E, Sharp Island, on dead coral, 3 m, May 21, 2009).

Description. TUBE: white, with 6 longitudinal ridges. Circular in cross-section. Up to 0.9 mm wide with lumen 0.7 mm.

BRANCHIAE: each lobe with 6 pairs of radioles; terminal filaments short. Branchial eyes absent.

PEDUNCLE: circular in cross-section, inserted just below right branchial lobe, with 4 to 5 annuli anteriorly, uppermost one inflated. Pseudo-operculum absent.

OPERCULUM: operculum consisting of a bulbous translucent fleshy ampulla, and a round conical, translucent chitinized cap with three internal septa ( Figure 14 L). Opercular length: from 1.1 mm to 1.2 mm (n=2, µ=1.1±0.1), width of both specimens 0.6 mm (n=2, µ =0.6±0).

COLLAR AND THORACIC MEMBRANES: collar trilobed, lateral lobes larger, continuous with narrow thoracic membranes extending to chaetiger 4.

THORAX: with 7 chaetigers, 6 uncinigerous. Collar chaetae of two types: limbate, with serrated blades and slender capillaries ( Figure 18 A). Chaeta of segment 2 similar to collar, chaetigers 3 to 7 with Apomatus chaetae in addition ( Figure 18 B–C). Uncini along entire thorax saw-shaped, with 12 curved teeth and rounded peg ( Figure 18 D). Tori of similar size along thorax.

ABDOMEN: Uncini saw-shaped anteriorly, with 11 teeth and blunt peg ( Figure 18 E). Anterior abdominal chaetae flat narrow geniculate with blunt teeth. Posterior abdominal chaetae capillary.

SIZE: total lengths of worms: 10.3 mm to 12.6 mm (n=2, µ=11.4±1.6), thoracic widths: 0.6 mm to 0.8 mm (n=2, µ=0.7±0.2). Branchiae and operculum accounting for one fifth of entire length.

COLOUR: in ethanol yellowish, with brown pigmentation on branchial crown and thoracic neuropodia.

Habitat. Depth: 3 m, on dead corals.

Remarks. Ten Hove (1975) considered Vermiliopsis infundibulum / glandigera to be a species complex. In a recent study, Pillai (2009) attributed the western Pacific specimens of this complex to V. glandigerus , which we have followed in this paper. However, for a more detailed discussion of the taxonomic problems in this genus see ten Hove & Kupriyanova (2009: 100) and Ben-Eliahu and ten Hove (2011: 95).

Distribution. Tropical and subtropical waters of western Pacific Ocean.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Vermiliopsis glandigerus, AM W 41415. A, limbate and capillary collar chaetae. B, three types of chaetae from chaetiger 4. C, Apomatus chaeta. D, uncini from chaetiger 4. E, anterior abdominal uncini. (Scale bars: A, D – E = 20 μm, B – C = 10 μm)

FIGURE 14. A – C: Spirobranchus cf. polytrema type A, AM W 41412. A, tube. B – C, operculum, lateral and apical view. D – E: Spirobranchus tetraceros, AM W 41411, operculum, lateral and apical view. F – J: Spirobranchus sp. A, AM W 41413. F, operculum, lateral view. G, bayonet-like collar chaeta. H, thoracic chaetaa. I, thoracic uncinus. J, anterior abdominal uncinus. K: Spirobranchus sp. B, AM W 41414, operculum, lateral view. L: Vermiliopsis glandigerus, AM W 41415, operculum, lateral view. (Scale bars: A, D – E = 1 mm, B – C, F = 0.5 mm, G – H = 100 μm, I – J = 20 μm, K – L = 0.2 mm)