The Polychaetous Annelids of the Marshall Islands 1 
Donald J. Reish 2 
This report is based upon collections made by 
the author at Eniwetok, Bikini, and Majuro 
atolls during the summers of 1956 and 1957. 
In addition, previous accounts of the polychaetes 
from the Marshall Islands, largely those re- 
ported by Hartman (1954^), are incorporated 
in this study. The object of the field investiga- 
tions was to prepare a reference collection of 
polychaetes for the Eniwetok Marine Biological 
Laboratory. Keys to the species within the 
families and references have been added as an 
aid to identification. The material upon which 
this study was based, including all holotypes and 
paratypes, has been deposited in the polychaete 
collections of the United States National Mu- 
seum. A duplicate collection has been placed in 
the museum of the Eniwetok Marine Biological 
Laboratory. The author is indebted to Dr. Robert 
W. Hiatt for his assistance during the course of 
the field investigations. 
Previous studies dealing with the polychaetes 
of the Marshall Islands include the account by 
Hartman (1954^), who reported on material 
collected from Eniwetok, Bikini, Rongelap, and 
Rongerik atolls; Reish (19 6la), who described 
a new species of M/cronereis from Eniwetok 
Atoll; and Woodwick (1964), who described 
five new species of spionids collected by the 
author from Eniwetok, Bikini, and Majuro 
atolls. A total of 102 species, including some 
forms identified only to genus or family by 
Hartman, were previously known from the 
Marshall Islands. The Marshall Islands consist 
of 5 islands having no interior lagoon and 29 
atolls (Emery, Tracey, and Ladd, 1954). Poly- 
chaetes have been collected thus far from 28 
islands of 5 atolls: Eniwetok (14 islands) (Fig. 
1), Bikini (6 islands) (Fig. 2), Rongelap (5 
1 The field work was made possible by the U.S. 
Atomic Energy Commission through the University of 
Hawaii and the Eniwetok Marine Biological Labora- 
tory. 
2 Department of Biology, California State College, 
Long Beach, California 90804. Manuscript received 
January 31, 1967. 
islands), Rongerik (2 islands), and Majuro (1 
island) (Fig. 3). 
MATERIALS AND METHODS 
The collections upon which this study is based 
were made by the author from August 20 
through September 14, 1956 (146 stations) and 
from June 29 through July 15, 1957 (77 sta- 
tions). Three additional collections were made 
from the bottom of the lagoon at Eniwetok 
Atoll by Mr. Mike Chamberlain on September 
15, 1957. The islands of Eniwetok Atoll visited 
in 1956 and 1957 were Parry, Eniwetok, Igurin, 
Rigili, Bogombogo, Engebi, Aaraanbiru, Aniy- 
aanii, Japtan, and Bogen (Fig. 1). Collections at 
Enyu Island, Bikini Atoll, were made on Sep- 
tember 6, 1956 (Fig. 2), and on Uliga Island, 
Majuro Atoll, on August 30, 1956 (Fig. 3). 
The collecting procedure was similar at all 
islands. Transects were made of both the ocean 
and lagoon sides of the islands during low tide. 
Collections were made at the high tide, mid-tide, 
low tide, and surge zones. These collections con- 
sisted of individual specimens of polychaetes, 
algal clumps, sand, and pieces of corals, old 
coral heads, coralline algae, and of the coral reef 
itself. Generally one liter of material from each 
ecological niche at a site was preserved with 
formaldehyde in the field. The material was 
washed and sorted in the laboratory under a dis- 
secting microscope. Subtidal collections of sand 
or pieces of coral were taken by swimming in 
depths of five meters or less. Polychaetes were 
taken from nearly every one of the 226 stations. 
Description of 85 of the 226 stations sampled 
are included in the paper by Barnard (1965). 
Various names have been employed in the 
literature for the various islands of Eniwetok 
Atoll. The names employed by Dawson (1957) 
and by the Eniwetok Marine Biological Labora- 
tory have been followed. Hartman (1954^) 
used the same names for those of the islands 
from which she made collections, with two ex- 
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