GULF OF MEXICO BLM-OCS OCCURRENCE: Three scattered records off western 

 Florida (Figure 30-101); 38-54 m; coarse to fine sand, silty fine sand. 

 DISTRIBUTION: West Indies, Key West, Tortugas, Gulf of Mexico, Bermuda. 



Genus Haplosyllis Langerhans, 1879 



TYPE SPECIES: Syllis spongicola Grube, 1855. 



REFERENCES: 



Imajima, 1966:220. 



Fauchald, 1977a:82. 



Uebelacker, 1982a:856. 



DIAGNOSIS: Prostomium with three antennae. Two pairs of tentacular 



cirri. Antennae, tentacular, and dorsal cirri articled. All setae 



simple. Pharynx with anterior middorsal tooth. Usually commensal. 



REMARKS: Hartmann-Schroder (1978:52) presented a table comparing eight 



currently known species and subspecies of Haplosyllis. 



Haplosyllis spongicola (Grube, 1855) 

 Figures 30-103, 104a-d 



Syllis ( Haplosyllis) spongicola — Fauvel, 1923:257, fig. 95a-d. 

 Haplosyllis spongicola — Imajima, 1966:220, fig. 38a-h. 



Syllis ( Haplosyllis) spongicola— Day, 1967:240, fig. 12.1.e-i; 1973:29. 

 Syllis ( Haplosyllis ) spongicola — Gardiner, 1976:139, fig. 12i-k. 

 Haplosyllis spongicola — Hartmann-Schroder, 1978:52 [table]. 



MATERIAL EXAMINED: 



Gulf of Mexico BLM-OCS: 



SOFLA 24E-7/81 (5 spec, USNM 75294); MAFLA 2315A-8/76 (1 spec), 2528- 



11/77 (5 spec, USNM 55822), 2528K-11/77 (3 spec). 



DESCRIPTION: 



Length, 4.6+ mm (previously reported to 50 mm); width, 0.8 mm. Body 



cylindrical, incomplete with up to 34 setigers. Prostomium oval, with 



four small, lentigerous eyes (Figure 30-104a). Median antenna with 21- 



37 articles, lateral antennae with 8-21 articles. Palps thick, rounded. 



Nuchal organs as small, thin slits between prostcmium and peristomium. 



Dorsal tentacular cirri with 19-32 articles, ventral ones with 9-10 



articles. Anterior dorsal cirri with 6-45 articles first pair longest. 



Dorsal cirri of midbody region alternating in length, shorter ones with 



4-8 articles, longer ones with 8-18 articles. Ventral "irri ovoid, 



extending beyond parapodia anteriorly. Anal cirri long, smooth to 



indistinctly articled. Setae all simple, distally bifid, or worn and 



appearing smooth, with large subterminal boss (Figure 30-104b,c). Acic- 



ula numbering 2-3 per parapodiura anteriorly, decreasing to 1-2 medially, 



becoming enlarged and strongly hooked posteriorly (Figure 30-104d). 



Pharynx extending to setigers 5-8, with 8-11 soft marginal papillae, and 



subterminally located middorsal tooth. Proventricle extending from 



setigers 6-8 to 10-15, with 24-70 muscle cell rows. 



REMARKS: Three specimens each contain a juvenile endoparasitic arabel- 



lid, Labrorostratus luteus Uebelacker, 1978. 



PREVIOUSLY REPORTED HABITAT: Intertidal to 400 m; from sponges, asci- 



dians; on rocks, pilings. 



30-109 



