Lanice auricula Hutchings, 1990

Muir, Alexander I. & Bamber, Roger N., 2008, New polychaete (Annelida) records and a new species from Hong Kong: the families Polynoidae, Sigalionidae, Chrysopetalidae, Pilargiidae, Nereididae, Opheliidae, Ampharetidae and Terebellidae, Journal of Natural History 42 (9 - 12), pp. 797-814 : 811

Lanice auricula Hutchings, 1990

Material

One specimen at entrance and one specimen at back of Fan Tsang Chau (Conic Island) Cave , epifauna .

These two specimens agree well with the description by Hutchings (1990) which was based on a specimen from 3–5 m depth amongst boulders at Kat O, Hong Kong .

Mak (1982) recorded Lanice conchilega (Pallas, 1766) from Hong Kong waters. This species (type locality Holland) has been recorded from around the world ( Hutchings and Glasby 1988), but in most cases the descriptions are inadequate to confirm the identity of the worm in question. Comparing the descriptions of Lanice conchilega (Pallas, 1766) sensu Hutchings and Glasby (1988) and Lanice auricula , the most obvious differences seem to be: 1) the lateral lobes of segment 3 of L. conchilega are narrow, rectangular, with a dorsolateral flag-like extension, whereas on L. auricula they are much wider, with an inflated basal portion, semi-circular in shape, and 2) the area around the notopodia of L. conchilega is very glandular, forming a markedly corrugated glandular lateral stripe along the length of the thorax; this stripe is absent from L. auricula .