Flabelligera salazarae, Salazar-Vallejo, 2012

Salazar-Vallejo, Sergio I., 2012, Revision of Flabelligera Sars, 1829 (Polychaeta: Flabelligeridae) 3203, Zootaxa 3203 (1), pp. 1-64 : 33-34

Flabelligera salazarae n. sp.

Figure 13

Flabelligera affinis: Monro 1933:1056-1057 , Text fig. 5 (non Sars, 1829).

Type material. Holotype ( ECOSUR 117 ), Playa la Manzanilla (20º44'13.48" N, 105º23'14.8" W), La Cruz de Huanacaxtle , Bahía de Banderas , Nayarit, México, rocky shore, low intertidal, mixed bottoms, under rocks, 30 May 2008, P. Salazar-Silva, coll. One paratype ( ECOSUR), in front of CRIP (20º44'44.3" N, 105º22'58.8" W); La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, México, rocky shore, low intertidal, mixed bottoms, under rocks, 3 Nov. 2009, P. Salazar-Silva, coll.

Additional material. Eastern Tropical Pacific. One specimen ( ECOSUR, OH-coll.), Playa la Manzanilla (20º44'13.48" N, 105º23'14.8" W), La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, México, rocky shore, low intertidal, mixed bottoms, under rocks, 30 May 2008, P. Salazar-Silva, coll.

Description. Holotype (ECOSUR 117) complete; body pale, with thin, transverse, ventral row of dark, tiny spots in chaetiger 1 ( Fig. 13A, B ); anterior end blunt, tapering posteriorly; 24 mm long, 4.5 mm wide, cephalic cage 2.5 mm long, 44 chaetigers. Tunic transparent with some sediment particles (fully covered by sediment particles when alive); papillae long, distally swollen, some mucronate.

Cephalic hood not exposed. Anterior end observed in paratype. Prostomium low cone, blackish, four large, barely pigmented eyes. Caruncle well developed, extending beyond branchial plate margin; medial lobe elevated, pale; lateral lobes rounded, pale, ciliary band darker. Palps pale, contracted ( Fig. 13B ), longer than branchiae; palp bases barely prominent, rounded, more pigmented along lateral, external margins. Dorsal and ventral lips reduced, lateral lips thick, swollen.

Branchiae in two lateral groups, each with branchial filaments in 6–7 rows; each group with about 100 filaments, decreasing in size ventrally, longer filaments as long as palps. Nephridial lobes basally swollen ( Fig. 13C ), slightly more pigmented than adjacent areas; nephridial tubes not seen.

Cephalic cage chaetae about as long as half body width. Chaetiger 1 involved in cephalic cage but chaetiger 2 with long notochaetae; about 20 noto- and 24 neurochaetae per side. Anterior dorsal margin of chaetiger 1 papillated. Anterior chaetigers without especially long papillae. Chaetigers 1–3 of about same length. Chaetal transition from cephalic cage to body chaetae abrupt; multiarticulate neurohooks from chaetiger 2. Gonopodial lobes in chaetigers 5–6, each rounded, low, transparent ( Fig. 13D ).

Parapodia well developed, lateral; median neuropodia ventrolateral. Notopodia conical with tiny dark spots. Neuropodia conical, barely pigmented distally.

Median notochaetae arranged in short rows, transverse to body axis; all notochaetae multiarticulated capillaries, about as long as body width, eight per fascicle, most with short articles basally, becoming long medially and distally. Neurochaetae multiarticulated capillaries in chaetiger 1; single, multiarticulated hooks from chaetiger 2. Handle articulation medially placed, articles irregular, decreasing in size distally; 5–6 articles, two long, one medium sized, remainder small ( Fig. 13E ). Other articles anchylosed, small, continued to bending region. Crest wider than handle, dark brown along the body, pigmentation extending towards base; width:length ratio 1:5.

Posterior end tapering to blunt cone; pygidium cylindrical, anus muscular ring, terminal, without anal cirri.

Etymology. The species is named after Dr Patricia Salazar-Silva, in recognition of her research efforts with polynoid polychaetes and especially because she collected the specimens for this description.

Variation. Living specimens have a thin, delicate layer of sediment particles, which becomes detached after fixation in formalin or ethanol.

Remarks. Flabelligera salazarae n. sp. resembles F. haswelli but they differ in the relative development of tunic and neurohooks. In F. salazarae n. sp. the tunic is thin and delicate and the neurohooks are long and thin with tapering crests, whereas F. haswelli has a thick, resistant tunic, and the neurohooks are shorter and thicker with wider crests.

Type locality. Playa La Manzanilla , La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, México. It was living in the low intertidal, on rocky shores or mixed bottoms, under rocks .

Distribution. Known only from Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, México. The record by Monro (1933) for Balboa, Panama, might be conspecific since those specimens are of about the same size and live in the same type of substrate.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Flabelligera salazarae n. sp. A. Holotype (ECOSUR 117), dorsal view. B. Same, anterior end, ventral view. C. Paratype (ECOSUR), head, frontal view, palps and most branchiae removed (BS: branchial scars, Ca: caruncle, LL: lateral lip, NL: nephridial lobe, PS: palp scar, VL: ventral lip). D. Holotype, chaetigers 3–6, left side, ventral view, methyl green stained, arrows point gonopodial lobes. E. Same, chaetiger 24, neurohook (inserts: multiarticulated region and crest). Scale bars: A: 1.5 mm, B: 1 mm, C: 0.2 mm, D: 0.4 mm, E: 230 µm.