Aphrodita cf. talpa Quatrefages, 1866

Gunton, Laetitia M., Kupriyanova, Elena K., Alvestad, Tom, Avery, Lynda, Blake, James A., Biriukova, Olga, Boeggemann, Markus, Borisova, Polina, Budaeva, Nataliya, Burghardt, Ingo, Capa, Maria, Georgieva, Magdalena N., Glasby, Christopher J., Hsueh, Pan-Wen, Hutchings, Pat, Jimi, Naoto, Kongsrud, Jon A., Langeneck, Joachim, Meissner, Karin, Murray, Anna, Nikolic, Mark, Paxton, Hannelore, Ramos, Dino, Schulze, Anja, Sobczyk, Robert, Watson, Charlotte, Wiklund, Helena, Wilson, Robin S., Zhadan, Anna & Zhang, Jinghuai, 2021, Annelids of the eastern Australian abyss collected by the 2017 RV ' Investigator' voyage, ZooKeys 1020, pp. 1-198 : 1

Aphrodita cf. talpa Quatrefages, 1866 Fig. 6A, B

Diagnosis.

Body shape ovate, length less than twice maximum width. Specimens with dorsal felt of fine notochaetae covering and obscuring elytra; 15 pairs elytra, elytral surface with micropapillae. Prostomium rounded, without ocular peduncles, eye pigment absent (may be present), nuchal flaps absent; facial tubercle well-developed, ~ same length as prostomium, papillate. Median antenna long, thin, as long as prostomium, with ceratophore ~ one third the length of style; palps long, minute papillae present. Notochaetae of three kinds: capillary chaetae forming matted dorsal felt; iridescent capillary chaetae projecting laterally; and stout, golden acicular spines with fine tubercles and hairs and with fine curved/hooked tips. Neurochaetae stout, superior tier thicker, brown with pilose margin and smooth slightly curved naked tip, inferior tier similar but golden brown and thinner than upper neurochaetae, with thickly pilose margin and slightly curved naked tips.

Remarks.

This species may be undescribed; it differs from Aphrodita talpa Quatrefages, 1866 (described from New Zealand) in having an elongate median antenna, hirsute notochaetae, iridescent capillary notochaetae, and lacking hastate neurochaetae. It has previously been reported from a number of locations around Australia at depths of 17-171 m as Aphrodita talpa by Hutchings and McRae (1993), who also suggest that it may be a complex of species due to its morphological variability. It is not clear if material reported from the Tasman Sea from depths of 186-526 m by Averincev (1978) represents Aphrodita talpa Quatrefages, 1866 or Aphrodita talpa sensu Hutchings & McRae, 1993 and so we prefer to use Aphrodita cf. talpa .

Records.

10 specimens. Suppl. material 1: ops. 4, 22, 35, 44, 56 (AM). 4 specimens. Suppl. material 1: op. 4 (MV).

Figures

Figure 6. Aphroditidae A Aphrodita cf. talpa (NMV F. 293294) dorsal view B Aphrodita cf. talpa (AM W. 49509) lateral view C Aphrodita goolmarris (AM W. 52604) dorsal view D Laetmonice yarramba dorsal view (AM W. 49499) E Laetmonice yarramba ventral view (AM W. 49500). Scale bars: 1 mm (C); 5 mm (A, B, D, E).