Pseudovermilia occidentalis ( McIntosh, 1885 )

Bastida-Zavala, J. Rolando, Buelna, Alondra Sofía Rodríguez, León-González, Jesús Angel De, Camacho-Cruz, Karla Andrea & Carmona, Isabel, 2016, New records of sabellids and serpulids (Polychaeta: Sabellidae, Serpulidae) from the Tropical Eastern Pacific, Zootaxa 4184 (3), pp. 401-457 : 431-432

Pseudovermilia occidentalis ( McIntosh, 1885)

( Figures 7 , 13 C)

Spirobranchus occidentalis McIntosh, 1885: 529 –530, pl. 55, Fig. 10 , pl. 29a, Figs 31–32. Type locality: Off Bermuda (Western Atlantic); 795 m, in coral mud, attached to a tube of Placostegus assimilis McIntosh.

Vermiliopsis acanthophora (not Augener, 1914).— Monro 1933b: 1085 (James Bay, Santiago [James] Island, Galápagos; in clean sand and weed); synonymized by ten Hove 1975: 59.

Vermiliopsis hawaiiensis Treadwell, 1943: 3 , Figs 14–15 (Hawaii) ; Straughan 1969: 234 –235 (Hawaii); according to ten Hove 1975: 59.

Vermiliopsis cornuta Rioja, 1947b: 525 –526, Figs 14–21 (type locality: Coromuel Beach, La Paz, Baja California Sur, on mollusk shells); Hartman 1961: 45 ( San Pedro Area, Southern California, from rocky bottoms); Hartman 1966a: 354, 409 (Southern California); synonymized by ten Hove 1975: 59–60; Salazar-Vallejo 1989b: 200 (Mexican coasts, checklist); Hernández-Alcántara et al. 2008: 49 (mentioned only).

Vermiliopsis multiannulata (not Moore, 1923).— Hartman 1956: 300 –301 (referring to V. hawaiiensis as junior synonym of V. multiannulata ); Hartman 1966b: 239 (Hawaii); Hartman 1969: 781 –782, Figs 1–2 (central and southern California; Fig. 2 from Pl. 18 of Moore 1923); partim, according to ten Hove (1975: 59–60); Salazar-Vallejo 1989b: 201 (Mexican coasts, checklist).

Pseudovermilia occidentalis .— ten Hove 1975: 59–72, Figs 114–123, 144–145, 155–156, 159, 161–164, 170–172, Pl. I, IIa–e, III, VII (revision of the genus); Bailey-Brock 1976: 77 –79 (Oahu, Maui and Hawaii Islands, rocky intertidal, reef flats, live substrata [chlorophyte Dictyosphaeria cavernosa ] and anchialine lava ponds); Bailey-Brock 1987: 422 (Hawaii); Salazar- Vallejo 1989b: 200 (Mexican coasts, checklist); Bastida-Zavala 1993: 36 ( Caleritas Beach , Baja California Sur); de León- González et al. 1993: 879 (Puerto Escondido Bay, Baja California Sur, epifauna on the oyster “ Spondylus princeps unicolor ”; 30 m) ; Bastida-Zavala 1995: 25 (Cabo Pulmo Reef, Baja California Sur, on coral; 4–7 m) ; Gómez et al. 1997: 1071 (Puerto Ángel Beach, Maguey Beach , La Entrega Beach and Cacaluta Beach, Oaxaca, on rocks and coral); Salazar- Vallejo & Londoño-Mesa 2004: 55 (Tropical Eastern Pacific, checklist); Bastida-Zavala 2008: 40–42, Figs 9 E–F (Baja California Sur and Oaxaca, intertidal to 7 m) ; Bastida-Zavala 2009: 540, Figs 3 T–U (identification key for Tropical America); ten Hove & Kupriyanova 2009: 85 (worldwide serpulid checklist); Bastida-Zavala et al. 2013: 349 (Oaxaca, checklist).

Pseudovermilia conchata (not ten Hove, 1975).— Salazar-Vallejo 1989b: 200 (Mexican coasts, checklist); Bastida-Zavala 1993: 36 (Caimancito Beach, Baja California Sur).

Material examined. 91 specimens.

Baja California Sur: UMAR-Poly 799-OH, 2 spec. (Caleritas Beach, La Paz Bay, 1–2 m, March 1, 2006, coll. DHP et al.).

Michoacán: UMAR-Poly 800, 4 spec. (Caleta de Campos, on sabellariid tubes, December 17, 1994, coll. RBZ).

Oaxaca: UMAR-POLY 801, 6 spec. (La Tijera Beach, on coral, April 30, 2005, coll. RBZ & GRC); UMAR- POLY 802, 18 spec. (Salchi Bay, Huatulco, sta. 3, on Pocillopora damicornis , 9 m, March 26, 2010, coll. ALP); UMAR-POLY 803, 2 spec. (Riscalillo Beach, on coral, June 16, 2004, coll. SGM); UMAR-POLY 804, 58 spec. ( La Entrega Beach , on coral rubble, 2–3 m, May 23, 2000, coll. SSV et al.); UMAR-POLY 805 (Conejos Bay, Huatulco , June 11, 2005, coll. JHB & GNL).

Habitat. Intertidal to subtidal (30 m, de León-González et al. 1993); to 250 m according to ten Hove (1975). On calcareous substrates such as the oyster “ Spondylus princeps unicolor ” (de León-González et al. 1993) , dead corals, sea urchin spines and on sabellariid tubes (Bastida-Zavala 2008).

Distribution. Amphi-American and amphi-Atlantic. In the Eastern Pacific from California to Galápagos, and Hawaii (ten Hove 1975).

Remarks. Pseudovermilia occidentalis was confused with Vermiliopsis multiannulata in the Eastern Pacific; however, the former species has thoracic membranes ending at the second thoracic chaetiger, and a black operculum; the thoracic membranes of V. multiannulata ends at the third thoracic chaetiger, and the operculum generally is reddish, yellow, or dark brown, never black (ten Hove 1975; Bastida-Zavala 2008).

Pseudovermilia occidentalis is very common in the Eastern Pacific, almost as common as in the Caribbean. The species is polymorphic in its opercula; Bastida-Zavala & Salazar-Vallejo (2000a) suggested a comparison between specimens of both coasts of America; however, until now no significant morphological differences were found. Whether or not populations of both coasts belong to the same species can only be decided by a DNA analysis.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Study area. The Tropical Eastern Pacific, Southern California and Hawaii, with main geographical names mentioned in text.

FIGURE 2. Distribution of the sabellids Branchiomma bairdi, Megalomma carunculata, Parasabella pallida and Pseudobranchiomma punctata in the Tropical Eastern Pacific, Southern California and Hawaii.

FIGURE 3. Distribution of Ficopomatus uschakovi, Crucigera websteri, Hydroides cf. amri, H. brachyacantha and H. crucigera.

FIGURE 7. Distribution of and Pomatostegus kroyeri, Protula balboensis, Pseudovermilia occidentalis and Pyrgopolon ctenactis.

FIGURE 9. Gross scheme of the likely routes followed by introduced sabellids and serpulids: 1) Branchiomma bairdi, Crucigera websteri, Hydroides elegans, H. gairacensis, H. salazarvallejoi, H. sanctaecrucis, Pseudovermilia multispinosa and Pyrgopolon ctenactis; 2) Protula balboensis and Spirobranchus minutus; 3) Parasabella pallida, H. dirampha and H. elegans; 4) Ficopomatus miamiensis; 5) H. crucigera; 6) Pseudobranchiomma punctata; 7) F. miamiensis; 8) B. bairdi, H. elegans (?), H. gairacensis and H. sanctaecrucis; 9) Ficopomatus uschakovi.

FIGURE 10. Sabellids and serpulids in the Mexican Pacific. A. Branchiomma bairdi, anterior part; B – C. Megalomma carunculata, anterior part and caruncle; D. Parasabella pallida, anterior part; E – F. Pseudobranchiomma punctata, body and detail of abdominal section; G. Ficopomatus uschakovi, anterior part; H – I. Crucigera websteri, opercula, lateral and aboral side (colors in life and preserved).

FIGURE 13. Serpulids in the Mexican Pacific. A – B. Protula balboensis, body and specimen in the tube; C. Pseudovermilia occidentalis, operculum; D. Pyrgopolon ctenactis, operculum; E – F. Salmacina tribranchiata, operculum and colony on rock; G. Spirobranchus incrassatus, operculum; H. S. minutus, operculum; I. Vermiliopsis multiannulata, operculum with broken tip.