One new species of Micronephthys Friedrich, 1939 and one new species of <br />Nephtys Cuvier, 1817 (Polychaeta: Phyllodocida: Nephtyidae) <br />from eastern Australia with notes on Aglaophamus australiensis (Fauchald, 1965) and a key to all Australian species

Abstract

There are currently over 130 described species of Nephtyidae worldwide, with 18 species known from Australian waters belonging to four genera. Two new species are described, Micronephthys derupeli n. sp., and Nephtys triangula n. sp., from Eastern Australia. Descriptions are provided for all species examined. Comments are given about the recent transfer of Nephtys australiensis to Aglaophamus. A key to all Australian species of nephtyids is provided.

Nephtyidae (Annelida: Phyllodocida) of Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

“…Remarks. As remarked by Dixon-Bridges et al (2014), following the modified generic diagnosis of Ravara et al (2010b), some branchiate Micronephthys species that lack lyrate chaetae may be mistaken for small or juvenile Nephtys specimens. However, reduced or rudimentary parapodial lobes and few pairs of branchiae are features of such Micronephthys species, and as such should distinguish them from Nephtys specimens, in which well developed parapodial lobes and numerous branchiae exist even in small specimens.…”

“…The most diverse genera both worldwide and in Australia are Aglaophamus and Nephtys, with eight and seven species now known in Australia respectively. Micronephthys is represented in Australia by three species and Inermonephtys by two species (Dixon-Bridges et al 2014) whereas Bipalponephtys has not yet been reported from Australia.…”

“…Subsequent studies by Augener (1913Augener ( , 1922, Benham (1915Benham ( , 1916, Fauchald (1965), Rullier (1965), Knox & Cameron (1971), Paxton (1974), Rainer & Hutchings (1977) and Rainer & Kaly (1988) described additional Australian species. Most recently, Dixon-Bridges et al (2014) described another two species-a species of Micronephthys from NSW, and a species of Nephtys from sandy beaches of NSW and Queensland-bringing the total number of nephtyid species recorded from Australia to twenty.…”

“…The use of prostomium shape proposed by Ohwada (1985) has subsequently been dismissed as a useful character by various authors due to the highly "plastic" nature of the soft-tissue of the prostomium, as shape has been observed to depend on the extent of the eversion of the pharynx as well as the form and degree of fixation (Dnestrovskaya 2013;Dixon-Bridges et al 2014). We have followed the chaetal terminology of Dnestrovkaya & Jirkov (2010, 2011 who recognise four main types: capillary, barred, chaetae with spines (spinose and/or serrated) and lyrate.…”

“…Currently, the only diagnostic differences between the genera Aglaophamus and Nephtys are the shape of the acicular lobe-acutely pointed in the former, and conical, rounded or bilobed in the latter-and the absence of lyrate chaetae in Nephtys, though they may be present or absent in Aglaophamus. The recent inclusion of presence of lyrate chaetae in the generic diagnosis for Nephtys by Dixon-Bridges et al (2014), is an error (Hutchings, pers. obs., see also Remarks under Nephtys generic diagnosis herein), and thus the presence of lyrate chaetae also distinguishes Aglaophamus spp.…”