54 



Italy, France, Spain, Malta, and Tunisia). In the eastern 

 Atlantic it is abundant in submarine caves, and has been 

 recognized on Gorringe Bank, the Madeira Archipelago, 

 Portugal and the coast of Sahara. 



S. massiliensis has been erroneously reported from the Red 

 Sea (Amoureux et ai, 1978). Examination of the specimens 

 (HUJ) showed that their tubes lack ITS and they do not, 

 therefore, belong to the genus Spiraserpula. 



Spiraserpula capeverdensis sp. nov. 

 (Figs.5, A-P; 3, E) 



Material examined. 



Cape Verde Islands: All CANCAP stations. Off Sao Vicente: 



1. 6.134; 110-120m, (2 PARATYPES and some empty tubes, 

 RMNH 18197). 2. 6.135; 110-150m, (1 PARATYPE, 

 BM(NH) 1992.8). 3. 6.137; 75-90m, (1 PARATYPE, 

 BM(NH) 1992.9). 4. 6.146; 75m, (1 specimen, BMNH). 5. 

 6.148; 100-200m, (HOLOTYPE, 2 PARATYPES & 3 empty 

 tubes (residual material) ZMA VPol. 3651). 6. 6.166; 

 78-85m, (1 PARATYPE, USNM 130995). Off Razo: 7 

 .7.117, 100-120m, (some empty tubes, RMNH 18198). 8. 

 7.123; 120m, (5 specimens, RMNH 18199, ZMA V.Pol.3733. 

 Scuba diving station : Boa Vista: 9. 7.D06; down to 12m, (3 

 questionable specimens, ZMA V.Pol. 3871). 



Type locality. Cape Verde Islands, Sao Vicente. 



Description. 



TUBES: White, nearly circular in cross-section, and occurring 

 in aggregations of a few individuals, occasionally solitary. 

 They are closely coiled amongst or upon themselves (Fig. 5, 

 A), and mutually bonded by a granular overlay. Erect 

 portions, when present, are very short, hardly rising above 

 the rest of the tube, and may end in four lobes. Faint growth 

 rings are sometimes present (Fig. 5, B), and anterior 

 uncoiled portions may sometimes show a few transverse 

 thickenings, representing peristomes. In their first formed 

 parts, they possess an internal serrated dorsal ridge (Fig. 5, 

 A, D) and, often, a short ventro-lateral longitudinal row of 

 small smooth knob-shaped processes on each side (Figs.5, B, 

 C; 3, E). A mid-dorsal longitudinal groove in the posterior 

 part of the abdomen (Fig. 5, E, G) is applied to the serrated 

 dorsal ridge when the worm is withdrawn into the tube. The 

 maximum external diameter of the tube varies from 0.6 mm 

 in a juvenile to 1.4 mm in older specimens. 

 worms: (Fig. 5, E-H). An operculum is absent in all the 

 specimens examined. Instead, a filamentous rudimentary 

 operculum is present on each side. The number of radioles in 

 the larger specimens is often 7 or 8 per side, 4 in the smallest. 

 They are about 2.0 mm long in the larger specimens, and 

 have transverse specks at intervals. Their pinnule-free tips 

 are slender, 1/5 to 1/6 the total length of the radioles. Two 



T.G. PILLAI AND HA. TEN HOVE 

 Table 3 S. capeverdensis sp. nov. Measurements and meristic data. 



Stn. No. 



TL 



Width 



No. 



of 



Length 



No. of 



Caps. 





(mm) 



of 



radiol. 



of 



abdom. 



on 







thorax 







abdom. 



segs. 









(mm) 







(mm) 







6.137 



25.9 



0.5 



8/8 





22.7 



138 



27 



6.148 



20.6 



0.5 



7/8 





17.5 



145 



- 



6.148 



7.1 



0.5 



7/8 





6.9 



96 



12 



7.123 



2.9 



0.3 



4/4 





2.6 



49 



- 



7.123 



2.4 



0.3 



4/4 





2.2 



29 



9 



Table 4 S. capeverdensis sp. nov. Numbers of thoracic chaetal tufts 

 and extent of thoracic membranes. 



No. examined (n = 12) 



No. of thoracic chaetal tufts 



No. examined (n=9) 

 Thoracic membrane ends 



2 12 14 2 



9/8 8/8 8/7 8/5 7/7 7/6 



14 2 2 



6/6 5/5 5/? 4/4 



clusters of reddish to reddish-brown prostomial ocelli are 

 present. 



Measurements and other data from the two longest and 

 three juvenile worms are presented in Table 3. The numbers 

 of thoracic chaetal tufts and the extent of the thoracic 

 membranes on the two sides is variable, as shown in Table 4. 



The thoracic membranes do not extend to the last thoracic 

 chaetigers (Fig. 5, F), and apparently end symmetrically, but 

 further study of additional material is necessary for confirma- 

 tion of the latter. Ventral thoracic glands are absent. 



Each collar fascicle bears up to about 5 bayonet chaetae 

 (Fig. 5, I-L). They have a long serrated blade, a short 

 unserrated notch and several moderately large teeth on the 

 basal boss. Thoracic uncini (Fig. 5, M) usually have 4 teeth in 

 a single row. Anterior abdominal uncini are similar, with 4-6 

 teeth (Fig. 5, N). The posterior abdominal uncini are rasp- 

 shaped, except for the single anterior tooth (Fig. 5, P). There 

 is a transition (Fig. 5, O) between the condition found in the 

 anterior and posterior abdominal uncini. 



The differences between S. capeverdensis sp. nov. and S. 

 massiliensis are as follows: The former has only rudimentary 

 opercula, and higher maximum numbers of radioles (8 pairs) 

 and abdominal segments (145). Its tubes do not form tall 

 erect portions, and usually possess two ventro-lateral rows of 

 knob-shaped tubercles internally, in addition to the serrated 

 dorsal ridge. In 5. massiliensis, however, an operculum may 

 or may not be present, the maximum number of radioles is 6 

 per side, and of abdominal segments observed 51. There is 

 also strong indication of an ecological difference (see below). 



Fig. 6 Spiraserpula ypsilon sp. nov. From type locality material (SW coast of Island of Brava), CANCAP 6.D03. A, Aggregation of 

 fractured tubes showing ITS, consisting of a Y-shaped ventral ridge along the concave wall and a serrated dorsal ridge along the convex 

 wall. An oblique section (bottom right) shows the tapering anterior end of the ventral ridge. B, Erect portion of tube showing four-lobed 

 peristome. C-E, Different views of complete worm showing showing rudimentary opercula, pinnule-free tips of the radioles (E), and dorsal 

 and ventral longitudinal abdominal grooves. F-H, Same anterior end showing four-lobed collar (H), thoracic chaetigers and membrane (F), 

 and ventral longitudinal groove. I-K, Three views of larger specimen, showing dorsal and ventral longitudinal abdominal grooves. Note the 

 longitudinal cord-shaped structure within the ventral groove of the abdomen which fits into the gutter-shaped part of the Y-shaped ventral 

 ridge of the tube. L, Anterior portion of of worm accidentally fixed outside its tube, showing filamentous rudimentary opercula and 

 thoracic membranes. M-O, Three views of anterior part of another worm fixed outside its tube. Its thorax is considerably wider than those 

 of specimens fixed within their tubes, and the longitudinal grooves may be stretched and shallow (N). 



