Thelepus haitiensis Treadwell, 1931

Londoño-Mesa, Mario H., 2009, Terebellidae (Polychaeta: Terebellida) from the Grand Caribbean region 2320, Zootaxa 2320 (1), pp. 1-93 : 80-83

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.2320.1.1
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03F75303-AE11-FFEC-FF7E-F9783D748665
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Thelepus haitiensis Treadwell, 1931
status

Treatment

Thelepus haitiensis Treadwell, 1931 View in CoL

Figures 24 View FIGURE 24 A-I

Thelepus haitiensis, Treadwell, 1931:79–80 View in CoL , Figs 14A,B View FIGURE 14 .— Londono-Mesa & Carrera-Parra, 2005:8–10 View Cited Treatment ; Figs 2 View FIGURE 2 G-K. Thelepus setosus, Hartman, 1951:113 View in CoL .— Day, 1973:118–119.— Fauchald, 1977b:60 (non ( de Quatrefages, 1865)).

Not Thelepus setosus, Hartman, 1956:297–298 View in CoL .

Type material: Holotype AMNH 3554 About AMNH (1) Lamentin Reefs , near shore, 5.6km West of Bizoton reefs, Haiti, Sta. 27418, IV-V.1927.

Additional material: Mexican Caribbean : ECOSUR TERE-30 QR4 (1) Aventuras Beach (20°20'15.5"N 87°20'31.7"W), 21.III.1992. TERE-30 QR7 (1) Chankanaab, Cozumel Island (20º25'53.3"N 87º00'19.3"W), 2.IV.1992. TERE-30 (1) Buenavista (18º30'42"N 87º45'30"W), 22.IX.1996. TERE-30 (4) Southern Contoy Island, 2.III.2001. TERE-30 (1) Playa Azul, Cozumel Island, 25.III.2001. TERE-30 (2) Main harbor, Cozumel Island (2023'45.1"N 86°51'53.5"W), 26.III.2001. TERE-30 (2) Northern Majahual, 24.II.2001. TERE-30 (1) Nizuc Point, Cancun (21º02'11.7"N 86º46'44.2"W), 10.II.2001. Antilles: AMNH 2769 (1) Lamentin Reefs, near shore, 5.6km West of Bizoton Reef, Haiti, 24.IV.1927 (as Thelepus pericensis ). AMNH 2770 (1) Lamentin Reefs, near shore, 5.6km West of Bizoton reefs, Haiti, 1.V.1927; 0.6m. AMNH 3170 (2) Guanica Harbor, Puerto Rico, VI.1915. ZMA V.Pol. 1450.01 (1) Caracoles Cay, Fosforescente Bay, La Parguera, Puerto Rico (17º58'20"N 67º00'52"W), 2.XII.1963; under stones, 0.3m (as Thelepus pericensis ). ZMA V.Pol. 1452 (1) Los Testigos, Exp. Chasalie, 20.I.1896 (as Thelepus pericensis ). ZMA V.Pol. 1454.09 (1) Curaçao, Sp. Water, 13.IV.1920; in Porites porites (as Thelepus pericensis ).

Description: Holotype incomplete, 69 segments, 78mm long, thorax 48mm long, 4mm wide ( Figs 24A,B View FIGURE 24 ). Upper lip long, rounded, margins folded externally. Lower lip flat, wide, slightly swollen. Tentacular membrane with thick swollen edge ( Fig. 24C View FIGURE 24 ); eyespots absent. Few tentacles long, with whitish dorsal and longitudinal waved line (opposite to longitudinal groove) ( Fig. 24E View FIGURE 24 ). First segment elongate laterally, without ventral shield. Twenty four ventral shields; anterior most shields thinner, becoming swollen and wider. Last shields poorly developed. Ventral groove dividing first ventral shields up to end of specimen. Three pairs of branchiae, with thin filaments, decreasing in size and number, and emerging from a swollen base, wider on first pair of branchiae ( Figs 24C,D View FIGURE 24 ). First pair of branchiae with 32 filaments at each side, second pair with 25 filaments on each side, and third pair with 20 filaments on each side. Nephridial papillae not seen. Notopodial glandular tissue pale or whitish, dorsally and ventrally to notopodia along first thoracic half. Anterior most notopodia well-developed; 46 pairs of notopodia; notochaetae of two lengths ( Fig. 24F View FIGURE 24 ), lanceolate, symmetrically bilimbate, with longitudinal striations ( Figs 24G,H View FIGURE 24 ). Pairs of neuropodia swollen, wider on anterior region, smaller on abdomen. Thoracic and abdominal uncini ( Fig. 24I View FIGURE 24 ) with dental formula MF:2; PP and PF absent; Oc slightly convex; Cp with two teeth, as long as two third the MF; Sr narrow; SrP as square button close to a rounded AP; SrA absent; AF absent; Bs slightly curved. Pygidium missing.

Staining pattern: First ventral shield on segment 2 and notopodial glandular tissue stain deeply ( Fig. 24B View FIGURE 24 ). The remaining ventral shields stain lighter ( Fig. 24B View FIGURE 24 ). Other structures not stained.

Variations: The non-type specimens are also incomplete and damaged, with 20 ventral shields, 13 complete, and the rest divided in 2 portions by the ventral groove; it has more eyespots on the tentacular membrane. Specimens from ZMA have 43–45 pairs of notopodia, with 44 as the most common number; there are some posterior fragments with 60–119 segments, which indicate that the total length could be 103–164 segments, at least, taking into account the number of pairs of notopodia. First pair or branchiae has 35–43 filaments at each side, second pair with 30 filaments at each side, and third pair with 28–30 filaments at each side. They also have nephridial papillae on segments 4–7. The posterior fragments present pygidium wide, without papillae. The specimens from the Mexican Caribbean have 41–44 pairs of notopodia, being 42 the most common number. Some small and yellowish eggs are in specimens from Puerto Rico, on the posterior half of the abdomen, some 20–30 segments before pygidium. Well-developed notopodial glandular tissue is presented by some specimens from the Mexican Caribbean , as whitish cotton-like pads surrounding the first 20–25 pairs of notopodia. A polynoid, Lepidasthenia sp. , was found inside the tube of one specimen from Cozumel Island, Mexican Caribbean . Hartman (1951) had also reported a similar polynoid in specimens from the Gulf of Mexico.

Discussion: Hartman (1956; 1959) followed by Holthe (1986b) indicated that Thelepus haitiensis belongs to T. setosus ( de Quatrefages, 1865) . Nevertheless, after checking topotype specimens of T. setosus ( AMNH 657 (3) Saint Vaast-la-Hogue, France, IV.1913), I consider these two species different, because of the greater number of branchial filaments in T. haitiensis ; first pair with 35–43 filaments on each side, second pair with 25–30 filaments on each side, and third pair with 20–30 filaments on each side, compared to 10–14, 9–14 and 7–6 filaments, on the respective pairs, present in T. setosus ; the narrow range in the number of thoracic chaetigers in T, haitiensis , 41–46 pairs of notopodia compared to 30–60 pairs of notopodia for T. setosus .

Further, after Fauvel (1927); the uncinal formula for T. setosus is MF:2, while T. haitiensis is MF:2–3:2, and the button in the sub-rostrum is sub-distal in the uncini from T. haitiensis , while in T. setosus this button is distal, over the anterior process. Furthermore, the type localities for both, Haiti and the English Channel, in the Atlantic coast of France, are far from each other, with different oceanographic conditions. Therefore, T. setosus does not occur in the Grand Caribbean region, and some former identifications of this species in this region, as those specimens from the ZMA (see material examined), and other listed by Perkins and Savage (1975) and Salazar-Vallejo (1996), possibly belong to T. haitiensis , although all of that specimens need to be checked. A discussion of the doubtful cosmopolitan distribution of T. setosus has been given by Hutchings and Glasby (1987); they based their arguments on the number of pairs of notopodia present on specimens previously identified as T. setosus in Australia, which were described as a new species, Thelepus extensus Hutchings and Glasby, 1987 .

Type locality: Haiti .

Distribution: Florida, USA; Gulf of Mexico, Mexican Caribbean , Panama, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Los Testigos, Curaçao. In shallow water.