Parapolyeunoa, Barnich, Ruth, Gambi, Maria Cristina & Fiege, Dieter, 2012

Barnich, Ruth, Gambi, Maria Cristina & Fiege, Dieter, 2012, Revision of the genus Polyeunoa McIntosh, 1885 (Polychaeta, Polynoidae), Zootaxa 3523, pp. 25-38 : 31

Parapolyeunoa n. gen.

Type species. Hololepidella flynni Benham, 1921 .

Diagnosis. Body long, with about 60 segments. Elytra more than 15 pairs, on segments 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 26, 29, 32, and 35, distributed irregularly after segment 35. Elytra more or less covering dorsum, at least in anterior segments; most of posterior region of body uncovered. Prostomium bilobed with distinct cephalic peaks; with three antennae, lateral antennae inserted ventrally to median antenna. Notopodia with prominent, digitiform acicular lobe; neuropodia with prominent, subtriangular acicular lobe, tip extended to supra-acicular process; tips of noto- and neuroacicula penetrating epidermis. Notochaetae few, as stout as neurochaetae, with blunt tip; neurochaetae numerous, with bidentate tip.

Remarks. Hololepidella flynni Benham, 1921 was transferred to the genus Polyeunoa by Pettibone (1969), but without being properly revised. The fact that H. flynni is not only characterised by a neuropodial acicular lobe extended to a supra-acicular process at the tip, but shows also distinct cephalic peaks, while in Polyeunoa the neuropodial supra-acicular process is absent and the cephalic peaks are only poorly developed or absent, lead us to the conclusion that a new genus, i.e. Parapolyeunoa n. gen., has to be erected for H. flynn i.