WoRMS taxon details

Parasitosyllis Potts, 1912

863130  (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:863130)

accepted
Genus
marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
recent only
Potts, F.A. (1912). A new type of parasitism in the Polychaeta. <em>Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.</em> 16: 409-413., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26963073
page(s): 410 [details]   
Description Potts (1912:410) Description begins "In the collections made by Dr Cyril Crossland in 1902 at Zanzibar, there is a...  
Description Potts (1912:410) Description begins "In the collections made by Dr Cyril Crossland in 1902 at Zanzibar, there is a Polychaet in which the ectoparasitic habit is undoubtedly normal and attachment to the host permanent througout adult life. It can be definitely placed in the family SyIlidae and I propose the new generic name Parasitosyllis. Individuals were found living on both Polychaet and nemertine worms , fixed by the permanently protracted pharynx which is inserted in the body wall of the host and so intimately intergrown with its tissues that it was impossible to detach the paraites from their prey (save in the case of the soft bodied Nemertine) without breaking off the pharynx from the rest of the body. The worm is about 5 mm. long and several individuals may be found on a single host." [details]

Etymology The name of the genus Parasitosyllis is composed by the prefix parasito-, meaning 'parasite', and the name of the genus...  
Etymology The name of the genus Parasitosyllis is composed by the prefix parasito-, meaning 'parasite', and the name of the genus Syllis Savigny in Lamarck, 1818, type genus of the family Syllidae, and it seems to make reference to the presumed ectoparasite nature of the taxon. [details]

Taxonomy The genus was erected by Potts (1912) for specimens collected in Zanzibar, attached by the everted pharynx to the body wall...  
Taxonomy The genus was erected by Potts (1912) for specimens collected in Zanzibar, attached by the everted pharynx to the body wall of unspecified polychaete and nemertine worms. No species were named in the publication, but Potts (1912: 412) states in a foot note that "A full diagnosis will shortly be published in the Transactions of the Linnean Society in the course of a paper on "The Polychaeta of the Indian Ocean, Pt III, The Syllidae" ". However apparently this work was never published. Parasitosyllis seems to be close to (if not synonym with) the genus Haplosyllis, but it was never placed under any of the subfamilies of the Syllidae, and this is maintained here.
Martin & Britayev (1998) and Lattig & Martin (2009) refer a species named Parasitosyllis claparede [sic], but this seems to be a nomen nudum, consequence of a transcription error while copying data from Clark (1956). First, Hempelmann (1931: 148) cited the genus with a mistaken authorship, as "Parasitosyllis Claparède". This statement was later repeated by Clark (1956), in a table. Martin & Britayev (1998: 294, 300, table 6, fig. 20) seem to have made an error while transcribing this information from the table, considering the taxon as being named as "Parasitosyllis claparede". However the authorship was correctly attributed to Potts.  [details]
Read, G.; Fauchald, K. (Ed.) (2024). World Polychaeta Database. Parasitosyllis Potts, 1912. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=863130 on 2024-03-19
Date
action
by
2015-11-06 12:22:51Z
created
2015-11-09 18:30:10Z
changed

Creative Commons License The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License


original description Potts, F.A. (1912). A new type of parasitism in the Polychaeta. <em>Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.</em> 16: 409-413., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26963073
page(s): 410 [details]   

additional source Fauchald, K. (1977). The polychaete worms, definitions and keys to the orders, families and genera. <em>Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County: Los Angeles, CA (USA), Science Series.</em> 28:1-188., available online at http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/123110.pdf
page(s): 85; note: listed as a nomen nudum [details]   

additional source Hartman, Olga. (1959). Catalogue of the Polychaetous Annelids of the World. Parts 1 and 2. <em>Allan Hancock Foundation Occasional Paper.</em> 23: 1-628.
page(s): 215; note: listed with the comment "No species named.[details]  Available for editors  PDF available [request] 
From editor or global species database
Description Potts (1912:410) Description begins "In the collections made by Dr Cyril Crossland in 1902 at Zanzibar, there is a Polychaet in which the ectoparasitic habit is undoubtedly normal and attachment to the host permanent througout adult life. It can be definitely placed in the family SyIlidae and I propose the new generic name Parasitosyllis. Individuals were found living on both Polychaet and nemertine worms , fixed by the permanently protracted pharynx which is inserted in the body wall of the host and so intimately intergrown with its tissues that it was impossible to detach the paraites from their prey (save in the case of the soft bodied Nemertine) without breaking off the pharynx from the rest of the body. The worm is about 5 mm. long and several individuals may be found on a single host." [details]

Etymology The name of the genus Parasitosyllis is composed by the prefix parasito-, meaning 'parasite', and the name of the genus Syllis Savigny in Lamarck, 1818, type genus of the family Syllidae, and it seems to make reference to the presumed ectoparasite nature of the taxon. [details]

Taxonomy The genus was erected by Potts (1912) for specimens collected in Zanzibar, attached by the everted pharynx to the body wall of unspecified polychaete and nemertine worms. No species were named in the publication, but Potts (1912: 412) states in a foot note that "A full diagnosis will shortly be published in the Transactions of the Linnean Society in the course of a paper on "The Polychaeta of the Indian Ocean, Pt III, The Syllidae" ". However apparently this work was never published. Parasitosyllis seems to be close to (if not synonym with) the genus Haplosyllis, but it was never placed under any of the subfamilies of the Syllidae, and this is maintained here.
Martin & Britayev (1998) and Lattig & Martin (2009) refer a species named Parasitosyllis claparede [sic], but this seems to be a nomen nudum, consequence of a transcription error while copying data from Clark (1956). First, Hempelmann (1931: 148) cited the genus with a mistaken authorship, as "Parasitosyllis Claparède". This statement was later repeated by Clark (1956), in a table. Martin & Britayev (1998: 294, 300, table 6, fig. 20) seem to have made an error while transcribing this information from the table, considering the taxon as being named as "Parasitosyllis claparede". However the authorship was correctly attributed to Potts.  [details]