July, 1999 
SCAMIT Newsletter 
Vol. 18, No. 3 
edge of the prostomium. It was also noted that 
there was faint brown pigment around the base 
of the prostomial point. Leslie had some notes 
by Sue Williams that described a few 
characters of Scolelepis spA. The characters 
matched Tony’s specimens; however, due to 
the minimal description, it was judged not to be 
prudent to identify them as Williams’ S. sp A at 
this time. 
The next problematic polychaete was also 
brought in by Tony, Naineris sp Hyp 1. The 
animal was collected at Bight station 2149 in 
Dana Pt. Harbor at a depth of approximately 6 
meters. The sediment was coarse shell debris. 
The characters of this specimen were: 1) a 
truncate prostomium, 2) branchiae started on 
setiger 6 and were equal in size to the 
branchiae of the other setigers, 3) the thoracic 
neurosetal lobe started on setiger one and was 
very long, spanning the entire length of the 
parapodia. Each lobe had a single papilla in a 
dorsal position, 4) the dorsal organs were 
roundish, 5) the transition took place at 
approximately setiger 25, and 6) the thoracic 
setae were geniculate and hooded acicular 
hooks. These specimens did not correspond to 
any of the species in Blake 1996. We referred 
to these as Naineris sp Hyp 1. 
Tom Parker shared 3 new species of syllids 
with us. The first was from the genus 
Proceraea. This specimen was collected from 
Bight station 2396 located off San Pedro at a 
depth of 31 meters. The animal had long, 
unsegmented antennae, 2 pairs of eyes, ventral 
cirri absent, the dorsal cirri were moderate in 
length and unarticulated, the setae were thick- 
shafted, simple bayonet, and the ventral lobe of 
the parapodia were expanded. This specimen 
will be described as Proceracea sp LA 1. 
The second syllid was Autolytus sp LA 1 
collected from Bight station 2482 located S. of 
Santa Rosa Island at a depth of 44 meters. In 
this specimen, the antennae lacked articulation, 
the nuchal epaulettes were angled and large on 
the anterior dorsum, and there were no ventral 
cirri. Ron Velarde commented that there are 
hundreds of species of Proceraea and 
Autolytus worldwide, and they are very 
difficult to speciate. One reason is due to the 
fact that many species have been erroneously 
described from the stolen phase of the life 
cycle. Studies need to be done to observe and 
document the entire life cycles of this group of 
animals in order to begin sorting out the 
taxonomy. 
The third syllid brought in by Tom was a 
Sphaerosyllis. It was collected from Bight 
station 2490 located W. of San Miguel Island at 
a depth of 75 meters. The animal had 4 
orangish-red eyes in a slightly arced 
transversed series, 2 very small orangish-red 
anterior eyes, compound setae that were 
unidentate and smooth, a proventriculus in 4-5 
segments, the dorsal cirri were weakly inflated 
at the base with irregular swellings, the dorsal 
cirri were absent from setiger 2, there was one 
pair of moderately flask-shaped tentacular cirri, 
and there were 2 ciliated dorsal flaps on the 
antero-lateral part of the prostomium. We 
concluded that this animal be referred to as 
Sphaerosyllis sp LA 1. 
Rick Rowe distributed two identification sheets 
containing colorful digital images. The first is 
Poly cirrus sp OC 1 fide Phillips and Lovell, 
1999. This species has 19 notosetigers, the 
uncini begin on setiger 9, there are cirriform 
postsetal lobes on the notopods, the lateral 
ventral scutes are separated by small 
midventral pads, the notosetae are hirsute, the 
peristomial pad is grooved, and the dorsal 
surface of the thorax is rugose. The methyl 
green staining pattern of this worm is also 
illustrated on the sheet. The second 
identification sheet is Chaetozone sp SD 3 fide 
Rowe, 1997. This species has a long pointed 
prostomium that is often directed upward, there 
are small dark eyes, the neuropodial spines 
start on setigers 40-65, segments are relatively 
long and uncrowded throughout, capillary setae 
progressively thicken, becoming spines 
posteriorly, dorsal tentacles are present on the 
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