Loimia salazari Londoño-Mesa & Carrera-Parra, 2005

Londoño-Mesa, Mario H., 2009, Terebellidae (Polychaeta: Terebellida) from the Grand Caribbean region 2320, Zootaxa 2320 (1), pp. 1-93 : 41

Loimia salazari Londoño-Mesa & Carrera-Parra, 2005

Loimia salazari Londoño-Mesa & Carrera-Parra, 2005:19–21 ; Figs 5 A-G.

Type material: Holotype ECOSUR 055 Xcacel, Mexican Caribbean (20°20'17.2"N 87°20'50.6"W), 31.VII.1995, 1m. Paratypes: NHM 2009.3 - 4 Turpialito , Cumana, Venezuela, III.2002 . NHM 2009.7 - 8 Turpialito , Cumana, Venezuela, III.2002 .

Additional material: Antilles : AMNH 2817 (1) Nassau, Bahamas, 23.VI.1914 (as Polymnia (Terebella) magnifica Webster, 1884 ) . ECOSUR TERE-26 (1) Los Testigos , Margarita Island, Venezuela, 10.VI.1961 . TERE-26 (1) Cubagua Island , Venezuela, 11.II.1961 .

Diagnosis: Holotype complete, 155 segments, 221mm long; thorax 55mm long, 10mm wide. Eyespots absent. Branchiae branched and spiralled, decreasing in length posteriorly. Nephridial papillae absent. Eighteen ventral shields from segment 2. Notochaetae of two lengths, longer chaetae narrowly bilimbate, shorter chaetae smooth, alimbate. Uncini pectinate, thoracic larger than abdominal ones, with three teeth above MF, and well-developed PP with thin PF; abdominal uncini with 4 teeth, small PP, and long PF. Pygidium with about 14 small papillae.

Staining pattern: First lateral lappet stains solidly, except for narrow pale band along entire margin. Ventral shields stain deeply, with lateral edges pale, and first shield darker than others; notopodial glandular tissue stains equally deep from segment 2 to the end of the thorax. The remaining structures remain pale.

Variations: This species can be large, thus, they are commonly fragmented because of their fragile bodies. Specimens from Venezuela were incomplete, with thorax 50mm long and 10mm wide. They also had 12 swollen ventral shields from segment 2. The last pair of thoracic neuropodia appeared ventrally close to each other (separated by 0.4mm).

Discussion: A full description of the species was provided by Londoño-Mesa & Carrera-Parra (2005). This species is easily recognized by the presence of uncini with long posterior process and well-developed posterior filament, and the large size of the body and of the presence of the second lateral lappets, not seen in any other Loimia species. This report expands the original distribution of the species to the northern Caribbean , in Bahamas, and to the south-eastern Caribbean to Los Testigos and Cubagua Islands, near Margarita Island, in Venezuela. Probably many specimens identified as Loimia medusa in the Caribbean belong to this species; unfortunately, they are only listed, without descriptive information about the type of uncini or sizes.

Type locality: Xcacel, Mexican Caribbean .

Distribution: Bahamas, Mexican Caribbean , Venezuela.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Lysilla caribe sp. nov., (UMML 22.1000 2Cc): A. Ventral view. B. Fascicle of notochaetae from segment 4. C. Parapodia from segment 8. Polycirrus angeli sp. nov., (Holotype UANL 6490): D. Thoracic region in dorsal view. E. Thoracic region in ventral view. F. Fascicle of notochaetae from segment 8. G. Uncini from segment 8. Scale bars: A,D,E: 1mm; B,C,F: 0.5mm; G: 0.02mm.