Radashevsky, Vasily I.; Al-Kandari, Manal. (2020). Morphology and reproductive biology of a new Pseudopolydora (Annelida: Spionidae) species from the Arabian Gulf. Marine Biodiversity. 50(6): 112: 1-12.

390890

10.1007/s12526-020-01123-2 [view]

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:469D2293-4BCC-4C3F-A4C5-4540ED03D1DE [view]

Radashevsky, Vasily I.; Al-Kandari, Manal

2020

50(6): 112: 1-12

Publication

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12526-020-01123-2

World Polychaeta Database (WPolyDb). Closed access. ZooBank registered

Available for editors   [request]

The Asian Pacific spionid polychaete worm Pseudopolydora paucibranchiata (Okuda, 1937) has been repeatedly reported from the Arabian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. Our recent molecular study showed that the Pacific and the Arabian populations of these worms are not conspecific. Here we describe adult, gamete, and larval morphology of worms from the Arabian Gulf, Kuwait, as the new species Pseudopolydora arabica sp. nov. Adults are characterized by the presence of intense yellow pigment on the prostomium, the dorsal side of the anterior chaetigers, and up to 50 ramified yellow chromatophores on each palp. Males produce thread-like wavy spermatophores about 10 μm in diameter and up to 2 mm long. Females store sperm in seminal receptacles on the dorsal side of fertile chaetigers and lay up to 1500 eggs into 35 capsules joined to each other in a string; each is attached by one stalk to the inner wall of the tube. Eggs are 100−103 μm in diameter, with smooth and thin envelopes, which develop into 3-chaetiger larvae inside the capsules. Hatched larvae are planktotrophic and settle and metamorphose at about 17 chaetigers. Adults inhabit silty tubes in soft sediments forming aggregations of up to 50,000 individuals per 1 m2.

Indian Ocean

Systematics, Taxonomy

Annelida
Polychaeta

RIS (EndNote, Reference Manager, ProCite, RefWorks)
BibTex (BibDesk, LaTeX)

[Back to search]