Spirobranchus nigranucha ( Fischli, 1903 )

Kupriyanova, Elena K., Sun, Yanan, Ten Hove, Harry A., Wong, Eunice & Rouse, Greg W., 2015, Serpulidae (Annelida) of Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Zootaxa 4019 (1), pp. 275-353 : 334-336

Spirobranchus nigranucha ( Fischli, 1903)

( Fig. 29 C, D)

Protula (Protulopsis) nigranucha Fischli, 1903: 128 –129, pl. 5 fig. 31, pl.7 figs 73–75, pl. 8 figs 87–88 [ Ternate, Indonesia; original description].

Protula nigra-nucha. — Hartman 1959: 590 [name].

Spirobranchus nigranucha . —ten Hove 1989: 136 [transferred from Protula to Spirobranchus ]; Fosså & Nielsen 1996: 140 [taxonomic scheme]; 2000: 142 [same]; Fiege & ten Hove 1999: 362, fig. 4 [same]; ten Hove & Kupriyanova 2009: 98 [name only]; Stella et al. 2011: 102 [name].

Spirobranchus giganteus sp. D.— Smith 1985: 37 –40, figs 2D, 5D, L, M, S [Lizard Island and other Qld localities, Australia; extensive description, material partly studied by HtH 1986].

Material examined. AM W.201836, Carter Reef, 14°40'S, 145°28'E, attached to coral rubble, coll. P. Hutchings, 10 Mar 1986, det. H. ten Hove; AM W.201841, Carter Reef, 14°40'S, 145°28'E, coll. P. Hutchings, 10 Mar 1986; AM W.41738 (2), ZMA V.Pol. 3579, Yonge Reef, 14°35'S, 145°37'E, coll. R. Smith, det. Sp. giganteus sp. D, 5 Nov 1985; AM W.41754, same, coll. R. Smith, 5 Nov 1985; AM W.41812, same, coll. R. Smith, det. E. Kupriyanova; AM W.41927, Waining Reef, back reef area, 14°27'S, 145°13'E, coll. R. Smith, Dec 1983; AM W.41820, Jewell Reef, 14°24'S, 145°24'E, coll. R. Smith, Dec 1983; AM W.41825 (2), Yonge Reef, back reef patch, 14°36'S, 145°37'E, coll. R. Smith, 11 Nov 1985; AM W.41945 (4), Yonge Reef, 14°35'S, 145°37'E, coll. R. Smith, Dec 1983; AM W.41948 (2), same, coll. R. Smith, Dec 1983; AM W.45093, MI QLD 2435; AM W.47317, North Direction Island, Deep Reef slope, 14°44'36"S, 145°30'54"E, coral rubble, 2 m, coll. C. Watson; ZMA V.Pol. 4812, stn.18, lagoon near East entrance, sheltered side of reef, near sandy bottom, 2–20 m, coll. H. ten Hove, 3 Mar 1986; ZMA V.Pol. 5316, stn.G230, North Point, reef slope, 14 m, scuba, coll. G. Rouse & E. Kupriyanova, 25 Oct 2005.

Diagnosis. Operculum or scar of peduncle absent, yellowish orange radioles in 4–5 whorls, clear reniform eyes at base, tube deeply embedded inside Acropora colonies. A further distinction with Protula bispiralis is the presence of tonguelets between latero-dorsal and ventral collar parts in Spirobranchus ( Fig. 25 C, D).

Remarks. Sp. nigranucha is unique among all Spirobranchus spp. because it lacks an operculum.

Distribution. Ternate, Indonesia, Indo-West Pacific. New record for Australia.

Figures

FIGURE 25. Spiraserpula iugoconvexa. A. Live specimen, stn. G 232, AM W. 42093; B. Operculum of fixed paratype AM W. 21676. Photo: A—G. Rouse, B—E. Wong. Scale bars: A = 0.5 mm, B = 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 29. A. Spirobranchus latiscapus, operculum of fixed specimen (stained with methyl green), AM W. 201802; B. Sp. latiscapus, anterior end (stained with methyl green), AM W. 201837; C. Sp. nigranucha, dorsal view of radiolar crown showing lack of peduncle (arrow indicates a tonguelet), AM W. 41948; D. Close-up view of the same specimen (stained with methyl green). Photo: A – D—E. Wong. Scale bars: A – D = 1 mm.