Lamispina, Salazar-Vallejo, 2014

Salazar-Vallejo, Sergio I., 2014, Revision of Pherusa Oken, 1807 (Polychaeta: Flabelligeridae), Zootaxa 3886 (1), pp. 1-61 : 38-39

Lamispina n. gen.

Type species. Stylarioides schmidtii Annenkova-Chlopina, 1924 .

Diagnosis. Body cylindrical, tapered posteriorly. Cephalic cage variable, often well developed. Body papillae cylindrical, capitate, sometimes with adhering sediment particles or forming projections, arranged in irregular bands, or completely covered by the tunic. Medial chaetigers with long, distally foliose neurochaetae (lamispines), often as long as body width; tips usually paler, soft, flexible. Branchiae cirriform, 8 filaments, four arranged in a continuous posterior row, and two lateral groups each with two filaments.

Etymology. Lamispina is an abridged and free combination of two Latin words, lamina (f., thin plate, blade) referring to the distal foliose part of the neurochaetae, and spina (f., spine, thorn) referring to the basal, cylindrical, spine-like part of the neurochaetae. Thus, the name refers to the neurochaetal shape which combines a spine-like, cylindrical basis with a laminar, foliose flexible distal part.

Gender. Feminine.

Remarks. Lamispina n. gen. resembles Pherusa Oken, 1807 . The main distinguishing feature is the presence of lamispines; i.e., long, distally foliose neurochaetae in medial chaetigers. At the same time, some species of Lamispina resemble some others in Diplocirrus Haase, 1915 ( Salazar-Vallejo & Buzhinskaja 2011), due to their very long chaetae and body papillae. However, they have different neurochaetae, being multiarticulate in Diplocirrus and lamispines in Lamispina . Another important feature of lamispines is that they are brittle and usually break off along their oblique fibres, near its transformation from a cylindrical handle into the flat blade, such that the broken chaeta looks tapered, acute, therefore, more chaetae in the same neuropodium, or in some other neuropodia must be observed to confirm this shape.

Lamispina n. gen. contains 10 species, five newly described: L. schmidtii ( Annenkova-Chlopina, 1924) n. comb., type-species from the Japan Sea (incl. P. negligens ( Berkeley & Berkeley, 1950)) , L. amoureuxi n. sp. from the NE Atlantic (off SW Ireland), L. carrerai n. sp. from the NE Pacific ( Mexico), L. chilensis n. sp. from the SE Pacific ( Chile), L. falcata (Støp-Bowitz, 1948) n. comb. from the Norwegian Sea, L. gymnopapillata (Hartmann- Schröder, 1965) n. comb. from the SE Pacific ( Chile), L. horsti ( Haswell, 1892) n. comb. from Southern Australia, L. keeli n. sp. from the Gulf of Mexico (Florida), L. kerguelarum ( Grube, 1877) n. comb. from the Southern Indian Ocean (Kerguelen Islands), and L. milligani n. sp. from the NW Atlantic (Florida).

Distribution. Lamispina species are present in subtropical to cold-temperate waters. Six species live from subtidal to depths of about 200 m, two live in deeper waters to about 600 m, one can reach depths of 1520 m, and another one lives at a depth of about 3300 m.

Key to species of Lamispina n. gen.

1. Body papillae without sand or large sediment particles........................................................ 2

- Body with sand or larger particles, at least dorsally; lamispines falcate........................................... 9

2(1). Body papillae stiff, tapered or conical..................................................................... 3

- Body papillae delicate, filiform, often eroded leaving bare surfaces.............................................. 7

3(2). Lamispines tapered, tips acuminate....................................................................... 4

- Lamispines subdistally widened, tips falcate................................................................ 5

4(3). Lamispines from chaetiger 3; notochaetae abundant (9–12 per bundle); four transverse series of papillae on medial segments................................................... L. kerguelarum ( Grube, 1877) n. comb. Southern Indian Ocean

- Lamispines from chaetiger 4; notochaetae sparse (5 per bundle); two transverse series of papillae on medial segments............................................................................. L. chilensis n. sp. SE Pacific ( Chile)

5(3). Cephalic cage 6x longer than body width; medial parapodia with 8 notochaetae per bundle.................................................................................................. L. carrerai n. sp. NE Pacific ( Mexico)

- Cephalic cage 2–3x longer than body width................................................................ 6

6(5). Medial parapodia with 5–6 notochaetae per bundle; body with 3–5 transverse series of papillae per segment....................................................................... L. horsti ( Haswell, 1892) n. comb. Southern Australia

- Medial parapodia with 10 notochaetae; body with 4–6 transverse series of papillae per segment................................................................. L. gymnopapillata ( Hartmann-Schröder, 1965) n. comb. SE Pacific ( Chile)

7(2). Notochaetae longer than body width...................................................................... 8

- Notochaetae 1/3 as long as body width; 7–8 lamispines per bundle, tips with fibers exposed; body with 2 transverse series of papillae per segment................................................... L. milligani n. sp. NE Atlantic (Florida)

8(7). Medial segments with 5–7 lamispines per bundle, tips hooded, appearing bidentate; body with 5–6 transverse series of papillae per segment........................................ L. schmidtii ( Annenkova-Chlopina, 1924) n. comb. Japan Sea

- Medial segments with 4–5 lamispines per bundle, tips entire, smooth; body with 8–10 transverse series of papillae per segment........................................................ L. falcata (Støp-Bowitz, 1948) n. comb. Norwegian Sea

9(1). Lamispines from chaetiger 3, bidentate, accessory tooth long, tapered; sediment particles concentrated over dorsal surface........................................................................ L. keeli n. sp. Gulf of Mexico (Florida)

- Lamispines from chaetiger 2, entire, without accessory tooth; sediment particles completely covering body............................................................................ L. amoureuxi n. sp. NE Atlantic (off SW Ireland)