Metavermilia acanthophora ( Augener, 1914 )

Kupriyanova, Elena K., Sun, Yanan, Ten Hove, Harry A., Wong, Eunice & Rouse, Greg W., 2015, Serpulidae (Annelida) of Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Zootaxa 4019 (1), pp. 275-353 : 298

Metavermilia acanthophora ( Augener, 1914)

( Fig. 13 A, B)

Vermiliopsis acanthophora Augener, 1914: 155 –158, pl. 1, figs 21–24 [WA, Australia].

Vermiliopsis acanthophora . — Dew 1959: 32, fig. 9, A–E [NSW, Australia]; Straughan 1967b: 234 [Qld, Australia]; Knox & Cameron 1971: 40 [Vic, Australia].

Not Vermiliopsis acanthophora .—sensu Fauvel 1919: 343 [Gambier Islands]; 1923: 53 [Gambier Islands; = V. glandigera / pygidialis- complex]; Monro 1937: 318 [Arabian Seas; = V. glandigera /pygidialis- complex]; sensu Day 1962: 654 [Indian Ocean]; 1967: 814 [ Kenia; = Vermiliopsis undescribed species fide ten Hove 1975: 59].

Metavermilia acanthophora . —ten Hove 1975: 57 [recombination, name in list]; Imaijma 1976b: 138–139, fig. 10a–k [Tanega- Shima, Japan]; 1977: 97 [Ogasawara Islands, Japan]; 1978: 61–62 [Izu Islands, Japan]; 1979: 171 [Kii Peninsula, Japan]; 1982: 51 [ Palau Islands]; 1987: 80 [Okinawa, Japan]; Stull 1979: 38 [East off North Island, New Zealand; 26–170 m]; Wu et al. 1980: 125 [Xisha Islands, China]; Mak 1982: 606 –607 [ Hong Kong]; Imajima & ten Hove 1986: 9 [ Solomon Islands]; Kupriyanova et al. 2006: 423 –433, fig. 2 [DNA data]; ten Hove & Kupriyanova 2009: 18, fig. 4c, 62–63, fig. 28 [SEM of chaetae ].

Metavermilia ? acanthophora . — Fiege & Sun 1999: 133, fig. 20 [Hainan Island, China].

Metavermilia cf. acanthophora .— Sun & Yang 2001b: 212 –213, fig. 1G–K [Hainan Island, China].

Material examined. AM W.28417, stn.20, 14 °42'S, 145°27'E, reef front north of South Island, sloping reef outside lagoon & sandy bottom below, 10–17 m, coll. H. ten Hove, P. Hutchings & M. Reid, 5 Mar 1986; AM W.28423, south of lighthouse, Palfrey Island, 14°40'S, 145°28'E, coll. H. ten Hove, 2 Mar 1986, det. H. ten Hove (as Metavermilia sp.), det. E. Kupriyanova; AM W.42054 (2), stn.G246, Granite Bluff, coll. G. Rouse & E. Kupriyanova, 3 Nov 2005; AM W.44050, MI QLD 2350; AM W.47300, mid shelf of Fore Reef, 14°36'54"S, 145°37'12"E, Halimeda and rubble, 12 m, coll. M. Blazewicz-Paskowycz, 12 Feb 2009; AM W.47455, stn.244, off South Island, coll. G. Rouse & E. Kupriyanova, 2 Nov 2005; ZMA V.Pol. 4694, stn.19, Turtle Beach, intertidal boulders & cobbles in coarse sand, coll. H. ten Hove, 5 Mar 1986; ZMA V.Pol. 4695, stn.16, North Point, sloping reef, dead, slightly silted corals, 3–17 m, coll. H. ten Hove, P. Hutchings & M. Reid, 1 Mar 1986; ZMA V.Pol. 4703, stn.22, between Osprey Island & beach of Resort, intertidal at low tide, from below large boulders on rocky bottom, coll. H. ten Hove & P. Hutchings, 6 Mar 1986; ZMA V.Pol. 4706 (3), between Research Point & Freshwater Beach, in lagoon, subtidally, from dead coral cobbles on sand, 1 m, coll. H. ten Hove, 16 Jun 1983; ZMA V.Pol. 4742, stn.16, North Point, sloping reef, mainly dead, slightly silted corals, 3–17 m, coll. H. ten Hove, P. Hutchings & M. Reid, 1 Mar 1986.

Diagnosis. Distal part of the operculum composed of 4–10 parallel tiers and terminating with a single distal spine or hook ( Fig. 13 ); tube with one or three irregular, rounded longitudinal keels. Thoracic membranes reaching to the end of thorax, but no apron.

Remarks. Literature records need to be checked since some are misidentified (some examples from the Indo- Pacific have been given in the synonymy, above). Besides, there are doubts if this essentially temperate/subtropical species can occur in the tropics. There are two major types, one is large animals with opercula having only 2–3 "disks", the top one is wide and nearly flat, with a distinct hook in the centre, probably M. acanthophora sensu stricto; another is much smaller, with opercula reminding pine cones, made of many (up to 20) "disks" or flanges, tapering to the top, with more or less developed hook on the top or without the hook altogether, the latter form attributed to M. nates here.

Distribution. Indo-West Pacific, South Japan to Australia.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Metavermilia acanthophora. A. Opercula, stn. G 246, AM W. 42054; B. Operculum, AM W. 47300. Metavermilia nates, C. Live animal in tube, SAM stn. G 246; D. Opercula, stn. G 242, AM W. 47589. Photo: A, B, D—E. Wong, C—G. Rouse. Scale bars: A, B, D = 0.1 mm, C = 0.5 mm.