WoRMS name details
Arenicola caroledna Wells, 1961
336353 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:336353)
unaccepted (subjective synonym)
Species
marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
recent only
Wells, G. P. (1961). A new lugworm from Woods Hole, hitherto included in Arenicola cristata (Polychaeta. <em>Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London.</em> 137(1): 1-11., available online at https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1961.tb06158.x [details] Available for editors 
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Holotype BMNH 1961 : 1 : 1., geounit Woods Hole
, Note Cuttyhunk Island, the outermost of the...
Holotype BMNH 1961 : 1 : 1., geounit Woods Hole [details]
From editor or global species database
Type locality Cuttyhunk Island, the outermost of the Elizabeth Islands, near Woods Hole, Massachusetts, approx 41.4189, -70.9339 [details]
Type material Holotype (coll. Gray, at Cuttyhunk, August 17 1958) in the British Museum (Natural History), Catalogue number 1961 : 1 : 1. Paratype, from the same batch of material, in the U.S. National Museum, Washington. [details]
Etymology Arenicola caroledna is named "in commemoration of the two spectacular hurricanes which visited Woods Hole while the form...
Etymology Arenicola caroledna is named "in commemoration of the two spectacular hurricanes which visited Woods Hole while the form was under investigation there in 1954, and were known to the meteorologists as Carol and Edna." [details]
Read, G.; Fauchald, K. (Ed.) (2025). World Polychaeta Database. Arenicola caroledna Wells, 1961. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=336353 on 2025-12-23
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Nomenclature
original description
Wells, G. P. (1961). A new lugworm from Woods Hole, hitherto included in Arenicola cristata (Polychaeta. <em>Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London.</em> 137(1): 1-11., available online at https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1961.tb06158.x [details] Available for editors [request]
[request]Taxonomy
source of synonymy
Wells, G. P. (1963). Barriers and speciation in lugworms (Arenicola, Polychaeta). <em>[Edited book chapter].</em> 79-98, In J.P. Harding and N. Tebble eds, Speciation in the sea: London, Systematics Association, ISSN 0586-3562., available online at https://archive.org/details/speciationinseas0000symp/mode/2up
page(s): 85; note: In a footnote Wells accepts the synonymy of his "caroledna" Massachusetts species as junior to Arenicola brasiliensis (first described as a subspecies of A. cristata). [details] Available for editors [request]
page(s): 85; note: In a footnote Wells accepts the synonymy of his "caroledna" Massachusetts species as junior to Arenicola brasiliensis (first described as a subspecies of A. cristata). [details] Available for editors
[request]Other
additional source
Wells, G. P. 1962. The warm-water lugworms of the world (Arenicolidae, Polychaeta). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 138(3): 331-353., available online at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1962.tb05703.x
note: reports on the wide geographic distribution of Wells' Arenicola caroledna and continues to include A. cristata brasiliensis as a synonym. [details] Available for editors [request]
note: reports on the wide geographic distribution of Wells' Arenicola caroledna and continues to include A. cristata brasiliensis as a synonym. [details] Available for editors
[request]
Present Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
Holotype BMNH 1961 : 1 : 1., geounit Woods Hole [details]
From editor or global species database
Diagnosis (Wells, 1961: 10) Arenicola with 17 setigers. Gills 11 pairs, on setigers vii to xvii. Nephridia six pairs, opening on setigers v to x. Inner end of dorsal septal vessel moves from subintestinal to dorsal vessel in setiger xi. Septal pouches large. Oesophageal glands comparatively short. Statocysts closed, each with a large, secreted statolith. Nerve cord in the plane of the longitudinal muscle layer, which it interrupts. [details]Etymology Arenicola caroledna is named "in commemoration of the two spectacular hurricanes which visited Woods Hole while the form was under investigation there in 1954, and were known to the meteorologists as Carol and Edna." [details]
Synonymy Wells (1961:9) was aware that Arenicola caroledna was the same as Arenicola cristata var brasiliensi Nonato, 1958. However, he wrote that "Nonato (1958) described a “ var. brasiliensis ” of A. cristata, distinguished by certain peculiarities of the statocyst. This is in fact a local variety of A. caroledna, as I shall show in a later paper. A varietal name has however no status in formal taxonomy and therefore no right of priority as a species name" However, Wells was wrong that a 1958 variety did not have nomenclatural priority, and thus his "caroledna" name becomes a synonym of Nonato's name. In 1962 Wells continued his belief that Arenicola caroledna should be used instead of Arenicola brasiliensis. However, by 1963 in his "Barriers and speciation in lugworms" Wells accepted that 'brasiliensis' was the valid name. He wrote "Arenicola caroledna is widely distributed in warm waters and includes the worms named as Arenicola cristata var. brasiliensis by Nonato (1958). According to ICZN Code […] published November 1961, ‘brasiliensis is available as a species-group name […] and takes precedence over caroledna. [details]
Type locality Cuttyhunk Island, the outermost of the Elizabeth Islands, near Woods Hole, Massachusetts, approx 41.4189, -70.9339 [details]
Type material Holotype (coll. Gray, at Cuttyhunk, August 17 1958) in the British Museum (Natural History), Catalogue number 1961 : 1 : 1. Paratype, from the same batch of material, in the U.S. National Museum, Washington. [details]
