Augeneria Monro, 1930

Neal, Lenka, Abrahams, Emily, Wiklund, Helena, Rabone, Muriel, Bribiesca-Contreras, Guadalupe, Stewart, Eva C. D., Dahlgren, Thomas G. & Glover, Adrian G., 2023, Taxonomy, phylogeny, and biodiversity of Lumbrineridae (Annelida, Polychaeta) from the Central Pacific Clarion-Clipperton Zone, ZooKeys 1172, pp. 61-100 : 61

Augeneria Monro, 1930

Type species.

Augeneria tentaculata Monro, 1930.

Diagnosis

(adapted from Orensanz 1973; Carrera-Parra 2006a; Oug et al. 2022). Prostomium with or without small antennae or nuchal papillae. Four pairs of maxillae, all with attachment lamellae. Maxillae I forceps-like. Maxillae II ca. as long as maxillae I, with ligament, without connecting plates. Maxillae III pigmented. Maxillae IV shaped like broad plates with whitish central and dark peripheral areas. Maxillae V absent. Mandible divergent at its anterior and posterior ends. Chaetae include limbate capillaries, simple and compound multidentate hooded hooks.

Remarks.

The predominantly deep-sea genus Augeneria Monro, 1930 has a confused taxonomic history. It was previously defined primarily by the presence of three occipital antenna as seen in the type species A. tentaculata , Monro 1930. Fauchald (1970) did not agree that this was enough to distinguish the genus from Lumbrineris , describing the antennae as eversible nuchal organs of "little generic significance". Then, in his review, Orensanz (1973) revised Augeneria as a valid genus characterised by anterior pseudo-compound hooks, MII with three rounded teeth, and MIV with an expanded pale central area further de-emphasising the antennae in the diagnosis of the genus. Augeneria has since been redefined by Carrera-Parra (2006a) who presented a diagnosis of the genus that includes three occipital antennae and emphasis on attachment lamellae of the maxillary apparatus, a character that is barely mentioned in work by other authors. In the latest diagnosis given for this genus, Oug et al. (2022) recognised the antennae or nuchal papillae as either present or absent, to prevent several species currently referred to Augeneria being without generic affiliation. Therefore, it appears that currently there is no settled definition of Augeneria . In this paper, we present two species of Augeneria , and we primarily follow the definition with emphasis on form of MIV and chaetal composition as no antennae could be observed in any of our specimens.

Currently, the genus Augeneria includes eight valid species, mostly from deeper waters: A. albidentata (Ehlers, 1908) (originally described from Agulhas Bank, South Africa at 117 m), A. algida ( Wirén, 1901) (from West Spitsbergen, Norway, Arctic Ocean at 1780 m), A. bidens (Ehlers, 1887) (from Florida and Cuba, Atlantic Ocean at 214-642 m), A. polytentaculata Imajima & Huguchi, 1975 (from Japan, Pacific Ocean at 100 m), A. riojai Aguirrezabalaga & Carrera-Parra, 2006 (from the Bay of Biscay, Atlantic Ocean at 480-580 m), A. tentaculata Monro, 1930 (from Signy Island, Antarctic Ocean at 244-344 m), A. verdis Hutchings & Murray, 1984 (from the Tasman Sea, Pacific Ocean at 4-12 m) and A. profundicola Kurt-Sahin, Çinar & Gonulal, 2016 (from Aegean Sea at 950 m). The validity of A. dayi within the genus Augeneria has been questioned, as it lacks compound hooded hooks on the parapodia and the original description by De Silva (1965) lacks a proper description of the morphology of the maxillary apparatus according to Kurt-Sahin et al. (2016). Furthermore, Augeneria bidens is currently listed on the WoRMS database as Lumbrineris bidens ( Read and Fauchald 2022a). No species of Augeneria has been described from abyssal depths to date.