WoRMS name details
original description
Pleijel, Fredrik; Rouse, Greg W.; Ruta, Christine; Wiklund, Helena; Nygren, Arne. (2008). <i>Vrijenhoekia balaenophila</i>, a new hesionid polychaete from a whale fall off California. <em>Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.</em> 152(4): 625-634., available online at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2007.00360.x page(s): 627 [details] Available for editors [request]
From editor or global species database
Diagnosis As for species: Apomorphies: Three pairs of large glandular lip pads surrounding mouth opening, papilla-shaped neuropodial lobes on segment 3, very long dorsal cirri, and growth pattern with up to about 35 segments, whereafter segments increase in size but no new segments are added [details]
Editor's comment Georgieva et al (2023) added a further Vrijenhoekia species although Shimbukuro et al (2021, 2019) had earlier synonymized the genus back to Sirsoe. This species probably also belongs in Sirsoe, [details]
Etymology Named for Bob Vrijenhoek, in recognition of his contributions to the study of whale falls. Gender masculine. [details]
Synonymy Strictly the type species of Vrijenhoekia, V. balaenophila places within Sirsoe according to phylogeny figures published by both Shimabukuro et al (2019) and Georgieva et at (2023). Shimabukuro et al (2019) then synonymized Vrijenhoekia into Sirsoe, but Georgieva et al (2023) kept Vrijenhoekia as valid, without explaining why. Although the phylogeny of Georgieva et al shows a distinct clade of Vrijenhoekia species nesting within Sirsoe, this clade does not include V. balaenophila, the type species of the genus. Shimabukuro explained the options thus: "Alternatively, we could propose a new genus to include the species of clade III, and restrict Vrijenhoekia only for clade II and Sirsoe in clade I. However, [...] to maintain both genera valid and to erect a new genus, we [have] not found any diagnostic character to split them in three distinct genera.' [details]
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