Taxonomy and phylogeny of mud owls (Annelida: Sternaspidae), including a new synonymy and new records from the Southern Ocean, North East Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean: challenges in morphological delimitation

Drennan, Regan; Wiklund, Helena; Rouse, Greg W.; Georgieva, Magdalena N.; Wu, Xuwen; Kobayashi, Gorô; Yoshino, Kenji; Glover, Adrian G.

doi:10.1007/s12526-019-00998-0

Cited by 15 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…Commonly known as mud owls, Sternaspidae are distinctive round-bodied or peanut-shaped worms are easily recognized by their characteristic and often colourful ventro-caudal shield ( Drennan et al 2019 ). Currently, Sternaspidae is comprised of 42 species in three genera, with the largest genus, Sternaspis Otto, 1820, containing 32 species ( Read and Fauchald 2020 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annelids of the eastern Australian abyss collected by the 2017 RV ‘Investigator’ voyage

Gunton¹,

Kupriyanova²,

Alvestad³

et al. 2021

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In Australia, the deep-water (bathyal and abyssal) benthic invertebrate fauna is poorly known in comparison with that of shallow (subtidal and shelf) habitats. Benthic fauna from the deep eastern Australian margin was sampled systematically for the first time during 2017 RV ‘Investigator’ voyage ‘Sampling the Abyss’. Box core, Brenke sledge, and beam trawl samples were collected at one-degree intervals from Tasmania, 42°S, to southern Queensland, 24°S, from 900 to 4800 m depth. Annelids collected were identified by taxonomic experts on individual families around the world. A complete list of all identified species is presented, accompanied with brief morphological diagnoses, taxonomic remarks, and colour images. A total of more than 6000 annelid specimens consisting of 50 families (47 Polychaeta, one Echiura, two Sipuncula) and 214 species were recovered. Twenty-seven species were given valid names, 45 were assigned the qualifier cf., 87 the qualifier sp., and 55 species were considered new to science. Geographical ranges of 16 morphospecies extended along the eastern Australian margin to the Great Australian Bight, South Australia; however, these ranges need to be confirmed with genetic data. This work providing critical baseline biodiversity data on an important group of benthic invertebrates from a virtually unknown region of the world’s ocean will act as a springboard for future taxonomic and biogeographic studies in the area.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annelids of the eastern Australian abyss collected by the 2017 RV ‘Investigator’ voyage

Gunton¹,

Kupriyanova²,

Alvestad³

et al. 2021

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“…Their morphological study resulted in the distinction of three genera (Sternaspis Otto, 1821, Caulleryaspis Sendall & Salazar-Vallejo, 2013and Petersenaspis Sendall & Salazar-Vallejo, 2013 and a rapid increase of the number of species from 13 to 44, including the species described herein (Fiege 2016(Fiege , 2019. With Sternaspis monroi Salazar-Vallejo, 2014, recently synoymized with S. sendalli Salazar-Vallejo, 2014(Drennan et al 2019, the actual number of species comes to 43.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our present knowledge of the morphology, anatomy, biology and phylogeny of the group was summarized by Fiege (2016Fiege ( , 2019. A recent study by Drennan et al (2019) investigated the phylogenetic relationships using molecular markers both within Sternaspidae as well as their position among the Polychaeta as a major taxon. Their molecular data of three genes (16S, 18S and CO1) places Sternaspidae next to Scalibregmatidae Malmgren, 1867 and these two families as a sistergroup of Cirratuliformia Fauchald, 1977 while other phylogenetic analyses using a higher number of genes paired Sternaspidae with Fauveliopsidae Hartman, 1971 (e.g., Rousset et al 2007; for details see Fiege 2019 andDrennan et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new genus and species of Sternaspidae (Annelida: Polychaeta) from the deep eastern Atlantic

Fiege

Barnich²

2020

EJT

755

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Based on specimens recently collected in sediments from 2700 m depth off Mauritania (Northwest Africa; type locality) and from 2700–4400 m depth off Angola (Southwest Africa), a new genus and species, Mauretanaspis longichaeta gen. et spec. nov., is described. The new genus and species are characterized by a unique combination of characters: ventro-caudal shield covered by firmly adhering sediment, lateral margins strongly bent and merging into integument; introvert hooks tapering; eight pre-shield segments; absence of peg chaetae; exceptionally long posteriormost lateral chaetae equaling body length; posterior shield chaetae equaling shield length. A comparative table of characters for all currently recognised sternaspid genera and a key to all species with ventro-caudal shield covered by firmly adhering sediment are provided.

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“…However, morphology can also overestimate species diversity. For example, the only two species of sternaspid polychetes described from the Southern Ocean, Sternaspis sendalli and Sternaspis monroi, were recently synonymized (the latter now the junior synonym) based on a molecular investigation that found little genetic structure between the two despite considerable variation in diagnostic morphological characters (Drennan et al, 2019). Furthermore, Polynoidae, the most morphospecies rich family in the current study, can display considerable degrees of intraspecific variation yet remain a single genetic species, as in the case of Harmothoe imbricata (Linnaeus, 1767) from waters off Scandinavia and Svalbard, which has at least ten distinct color morphs yet little genetic variation (Nygren et al, 2011).…”

Section: Morphological Limitations and Future Molecular Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annelid Fauna of the Prince Gustav Channel, a Previously Ice-Covered Seaway on the Northeastern Antarctic Peninsula

et al. 2021

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The Prince Gustav Channel is a narrow seaway located in the western Weddell Sea on the northeastern-most tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The channel is notable for both its deep (>1200 m) basins, and a dynamic glacial history that most recently includes the break-up of the Prince Gustav Ice Shelf, which covered the southern portion of the channel until its collapse in 1995. However, the channel remains mostly unsampled, with very little known about its benthic biology. We present a preliminary account of the benthic annelid fauna of the Prince Gustav Channel in addition to samples from Duse Bay, a sheltered, glacier-influenced embayment in the northwestern portion of the channel. Samples were collected using an Agassiz Trawl, targeting megafaunal and large macrofaunal sized animals at depths ranging between 200–1200 m; the seafloor and associated fauna were also documented in situ using a Shallow Underwater Camera System (SUCS). Sample sites varied in terms of depth, substrate type, and current regime, and communities were locally variable across sites in terms of richness, abundance, and both taxonomic and functional composition. The most diverse family included the motile predator/scavenger Polynoidae, with 105 individuals in at least 12 morphospecies, primarily from a single site. This study provides first insights into diverse and spatially heterogeneous benthic communities in a dynamic habitat with continuing glacial influence, filling sampling gaps in a poorly studied region of the Southern Ocean at direct risk from climate change. These specimens will also be utilized in future molecular investigations, both in terms of describing the genetic biodiversity of this site and as part of wider phylogeographic and population genetic analyses assessing the connectivity, evolutionary origins, and demographic history of annelid fauna in the region.

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Taxonomy and phylogeny of mud owls (Annelida: Sternaspidae), including a new synonymy and new records from the Southern Ocean, North East Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean: challenges in morphological delimitation

Abstract: Species delimitation in sternaspid polychaetes is currently based on the morphology of a limited suite of characters, namely characters of the ventro-caudal shield-a unique feature of the family. Sternaspid species description has increased rapidly

Cited by 15 publications

References 97 publications

Annelids of the eastern Australian abyss collected by the 2017 RV ‘Investigator’ voyage

Annelids of the eastern Australian abyss collected by the 2017 RV ‘Investigator’ voyage

A new genus and species of Sternaspidae (Annelida: Polychaeta) from the deep eastern Atlantic

Annelid Fauna of the Prince Gustav Channel, a Previously Ice-Covered Seaway on the Northeastern Antarctic Peninsula

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