Two new species of Opheliidae (Annelida: Polychaeta): Euzonus papillatus sp. n. from a northeastern Brazilian sandy beach and Euzonus mammillatus sp. n. from the continental shelf of southeastern Brazil

Abstract

Two new species of Euzonus from the Brazilian coast are described and figured. Both differ from other species of the genus with bifid branchiae in having a dorsoventrally oriented patch or band of papillae dorsal to the notopodia of chaetiger 10. Euzonus papillatus sp. n., from beaches of north and northeastern Brazil, has 20 pairs of branchiae, an oval patch with 3 rows of papillae, and posterior noto-/neuropodia with 5 6 modified spines of a type not previously reported for the family, possibly because the modifications are very delicate and may have been overlooked. Euzonus mammillatus sp. n., from southeastern Brazil, has 18 pairs of branchiae, a band with 2 rows of papillae and no modified spines. Based on information from J. M. Orensanz, the 1974 report of E. furciferus in southeastern Brazil is questioned. The original material could not be located and this record plus a more recent one need to be reconfirmed. Described species of Euzonus and the similar Lobochesis Hutchings & Murray, 1984 are briefly reviewed and the status of the two genera is discussed. We find that the supposed differences are not present and suggest that Lobochesis be considered a junior synonym of Euzonus.

Distribution and diversity of the Opheliidae (Annelida, Polychaeta) on the continental shelf and slope of Iceland, with a review of the genus Ophelina in northeast Atlantic waters and description of two new species

“…Fauchald (1977) counted 11 genera, namely Ammotrypanella McIntosh, 1878, Antiobactrum Chamberlin, 1919, Armandia Filippi, 1861, Dindymenides Chamberlin, 1919, Euzonus Grube, 1866, Kesun Chamberlin, 1919, Ophelia Savigny, 1822, Ophelina Örsted 1843, Polyophthalmus de Quatrefages, 1850, Tachytrypane McIntosh, 1878, and Travisia Johnston, 1840. Since then, Lobochesis was added by Hutchings and Murray (1984) but subsequently synonymised with Euzonus by Santos et al (2004). Dindymenides and Kesun have been synonymised with Travisia by Dauvin and Bellan (1994), and Travisia has been placed in the family Scalibregmatidae Malmgren, 1867 by Bleidorn et al (2003); note, however, that Maciolek and Blake (2006) and Sene-Silva (2007) did not support this genus transfer.…”

Relating divergence in polychaete musculature to different burrowing behaviors: A study using opheliidae (Annelida)

“…It burrows by direct peristalsis, with the wave of contraction traveling anteriorly, and has a body divided into distinct regions: 1) an anterior cephalic region consisting of the prostomium and first two chaetigers; 2) a swollen thoracic region; and 3) a tapering posterior region with ventral and lateral grooves. A lateral notopodial ridge separates the thoracic and posterior regions at the 10th chaetiger (Blake, ; Santos et al, ; Law et al, ).…”

Validation of three sympatric Thoracophelia species (Annelida: Opheliidae) from Dillon Beach, California using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data

“…Thoracophelia species are characterized by having the body divided into three distinct body regions: (1) an anterior cephalic region consisting of the prostomium and first two chaetigers; (2) a swollen thoracic region; and (3) a long narrow posterior region characterized by a ventral groove and branchiae. A transverse groove/lateral notopodial ridge separates the thoracic and posterior region (Santos et al 2004). Thoracophelia species have been described from the high latitudes of each hemisphere, including the US, Australia, Brazil, Japan and New Zealand and are generally intertidal sand-dwelling species, though deep-sea taxa have been described (Blake 2011;Santos et al 2004).…”