Iphione harrisae, Salazar-Vallejo & Piotrowski & Paulay, 2024

Salazar-Vallejo, Sergio I., Piotrowski, Christina N. & Paulay, Gustav, 2024, Revision of Iphione Kinberg, 1856 (Annelida, Aphroditiformia, Iphionidae), Zootaxa 5548 (1), pp. 1-84 : 54

Iphione harrisae sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3455EFC9-94C2-4850-96D4-635C9624CAFF

Figs 22 , 36

Type material. French Polynesia, Society Islands , Moorea. Holotype ( UF 2170 ), Afareitu, South of Ferry Pass (17°31’45.732” S, 149°45’42.66” W), 18 m, Halimeda sand, 15 Nov. 2010, N. Wilson, coll. COI barcode: GenBank PQ 423924. One paratype ( UF 870 ), between Temae and Afareaitu (17°30’52.128” S, 149°45’41.76” W), 6–14 m, outer reef slope, under rocks, 23 Oct. 2008, C. Meyer, S. McKeon, J. Moore, S. Fay, & G. Paulay, coll. (juvenile, left parapodia of chaetigers 11–20 removed for molecular analysis; elytra detaching, yellowish, without blackish spots, each with 5–6 rows of macrotubercles; body 5 mm long, 3.5 mm wide, 28 chaetigers).

Diagnosis. Iphione with median antenna reduced to nuchal papilla; elytra with margins smooth, non-fimbriate; macrotubercles blunt conical with distal spines, often eroded, in 3–4 rows, progressively larger posteriorly; cirrigerous segments with dorsal cirrophores with basal tubercle projected; neurochaetae bidentate.

Description. Holotype (UF 2170), mature male, without some anterior elytra and posterior region ( Fig. 22A ); left parapodium of chaetiger 12 removed for observing parapodial features, body 12 mm long, 7 mm wide, 21 chaetigers. Elytra yellowish, with macrotubercles arranged in 5–6 rows, without additional dark spots; notochaetae whitish, neurochaetae golden, parapodia with densely packed spermatid masses; midventrally paler than surrounding longitudinal darker bands ( Fig. 22B ), ventral cirrophores pale.

Elytra without fimbriae; macrotubercles conical, falcate, with a single distal spine, directed middorsally ( Fig. 22C ), pairs of elytra 10–11 with largest macrotubercles along posterior margin ( Fig. 22D ). Not dissected to avoid further damage; prostomial and anterior end features unknown.

Median cirrigerous segments ( Fig. 22E, F ) with dorsal cirri surpassing neurochaetal tips, subdistally swollen; dorsal cirrophore smooth, cirrostyle subdistally swollen, papillate; basal tubercle of dorsal cirrophore projected. Notochaetae very abundant, opaque, with series of transverse funnel-shaped spinose rows, tips bare. Neuropodia with neurochaetal lobe blunt, neuracicular lobe with long papillae, longest ones 5–6 times longer than tip width. Neurochaetae abundant, basally smooth, subdistally swollen, especially the lower ones, with many rows of fine denticulations along swollen region, tips falcate, bidentate ( Fig. 22G ).

Posterior region missing. Spermatids in irregular, densely packed masses in coelom.

Variation. The additional specimen is about half the size of the holotype (5 mm long, 3.5 mm wide), and has the same number of rows of macrotubercles and the same trend in their size, with the largest ones in the posterior row, close to the posterior elytral margin.

Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from Leslie Harris, collection manager of the Allan Hancock Polychaete Collection in the Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, California, in recognition of her long-term support of our research activities. The specific name is a noun in the genitive case ( ICZN 1999, Art. 31.1.2).

Remarks. Iphione harrisae sp. nov. differs from I. coriolis Hanley & Burke, 1991 from the Coral Sea because although both have 5–6 rows of macrotubercles, in I. harrisae the larger ones are along the posterior margin, whereas they are progressively smaller in I. coriolis . This is a small subtle difference, but they have deeply divergent COI sequences ( Fig. 36 ).

Distribution. French Polynesia, Moorea, from reef and inter-reef sandy bottoms (6–18 m).

Figures

FIGURE 22. Iphione harrisae sp. nov., holotype (UF 2170).A. Dorsal view. B. Ventral view. C. Left elytron 6. D. Left elytron 10. E. Chaetiger 14, left parapodium, posterior view. F. Same, notochaetal bundle removed. G. Same, tips of neurochaetae. Scale bars: A, B, 1.3 mm; C, 0.6 mm; D, 0.5 mm; E, F, 0.3 mm; G, 60 μm.

FIGURE 36. Maximum Likelihood phylogeny of Iphione species with localities and catalog numbers. Numbers above branches are bootstrap support (>70 only) (PNG: Papua New Guinea) (modified after Piotrowski et al. 2024).