Piromis Kinberg, 1867

Salazar-Vallejo, Sergio I., 2011, Revision of Piromis Kinberg, 1867 and Pycnoderma Grube, 1877 (Polychaeta: Flabelligeridae), Zootaxa 2819, pp. 1-50 : 7

Piromis Kinberg, 1867 emended

Piromis Kinberg 1867:338 , Grube 1877a:65, 68, Day 1967:663, Fauchald 1977:117.

Balanochaeta Chamberlin, 1919:397 (Type species: Trophonia eruca Claparède, 1868 , by original designation). Type species: Piromis arenosus Kinberg, 1867 , by monotypy.

Diagnosis. Body cylindrical. Tunic thick, usually with adherent sediment grains. Cephalic cage well developed. Anterior margin of chaetiger 1 papillated, middorsal trifid lobe present or absent. First few chaetigers with long parapodial papillae, or papillae formed into dorsal longitudinal rows; these individual papillae sometimes hypertrophied into dorsal tubercles. Neuropodia with multiarticulate bidentate neurochaetae in median and posterior chaetigers. Branchiae cirriform, arising from tongue-like plate.

Remarks. Fauchald (1977:117) stated that Piromis contains 10 species, provided with a tongue-shaped branchial plate that might be entire or bifid, and having unidentate or bidentate neurohooks. However, Day (1973:108) had previously redefined Piromis to retain only those species provided with bidentate neurohooks, and regarded those species with entire neurohooks as members of Pherusa . Since Piromis arenosus Kinberg, 1867 , the type species for the genus, has bidentate, multiarticulated neurohooks ( Hartman 1949:117, P. 15, Fig. 7 ), and a tongue-like branchial plate ( Day, 1967:664, Fig. 32.4c), these should be the defining characters for the genus.

As herein defined, besides the type species, Piromis arenosus Kinberg, 1867 , Piromis includes P. amoureuxi n. sp., P. brisegnoi n. sp., P. capulata ( Moore, 1909) n. comb., P. e r u c a ( Claparède, 1868), P. kisemboanus ( Augener, 1918) n. comb., P. robertsi ( Hartman, 1951) , P. suni n. sp., P. vossae n. sp., P. w e b s t e r i Day, 1973 n. comb., n. status, and P. w e h e i n. sp.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Piromis kisemboanus (Augener, 1918) n. comb., non-type specimens. A. Complete (MNHN- 507), lateral view. B. Same, anterior end, lateral view. C. Same, anterior end, dorsal view. D. Same, medium parapodium. E. Another specimen (USNM-unnumb.), notochaetae from an anterior notopodium showing articulation in basal, medial and distal regions. F. Another specimen (MNHN- 507), anterior neurochaetae, insert showing chaetal tips. G. Another specimen (USNM-unnumb.), posterior neurochaetae, insert showing chaetal tips. Scale bars: A: 2 mm, B – C: 0.5 mm, D: 0.25 mm, E: 66 µm, F: 50 µm, G: 100 µm.