April, 2000 
SCAMIT Newsletter 
Vol. 18, No. 12 
Leslie went on to explain that there are two 
types of tissue contributing to the pigmentation 
on the cirrophores in P. berkeleyae and P. 
maculata. The first is subdermal, golden- 
brown clusters of glandular cells. Second, are 
dark-brown or black pigmented cells, also 
subdermal, but on top of the glandular cells and 
arranged in a single plane. 
Next we compared the cirrophores from the 
topotype specimen of Pilargis berkeleyae and 
the holotype of P. maculata. The cirrophores 
of P. berkeleyae were completely encircled 
subdermally by the glandular cells, with a few 
dark pigmented cells; there were a few, small 
papillae visible at 40X magnification. The 
cirrophores of P. maculata have an oval patch 
of the subdermal glandular cells on the dorso- 
anterior side of the parapodia, and dark brown 
areas of pigment cells were present. The 
papillae on the cirrophores of P. maculata were 
even smaller than those of P. maculata , visible 
at 100X magnification. Both species appear 
smooth when viewed at normal sorting 
magnifications. 
Leslie retrieved the specimens of Pilargis 
berkeleyae that Hartman (1947) had used for 
her description and illustrations. They had 
minute papillae (visible at 40X) that were 
located on the head region, dorsum, and 
parapodia. The ventrum lacked papillae. The 
largest papillae on the animal were on the last 
few segments and pygidial cirri. In Hartman’s 
illustration the size of the papillae were 
exaggerated. Consequently, many taxonomists 
were led to believe that P. berkeleyae had 
larger, more prominent papillae, and over the 
years, numerous pilargid specimens have been 
mis-identified based on this illustration. To 
add to the confusion, these specimens were 
strongly corrugated due to contraction, 
especially posteriorly. These corrugations 
could be mistaken for large, densely-packed 
papillae. 
There are 2 additional species of Pilargis on 
this coast, both undescribed. Both of them are 
densely covered with distinct papillae on both 
dorsum and ventrum; the papillae are largest in 
the mid-dorsal region. They are similar to the 
animal described as P. berkeleyae in Imajima 
1987. Specimens of both species were brought 
in by Rick Rowe (CSDMWWD) and Tony 
Phillips (Hyperion) from San Diego Bay and 
Santa Monica Bay respectively. The specimen 
brought by Rick Rowe lacked pigment, had 
large papillae over all of the body, the dorsal 
tentacular cirri were longer than the ventral 
cirri, and the dorsal tentacular cirrus on setiger 
1 was longer than on subsequent setigers. This 
animal turned out to be Pilargis sp B of Harris. 
P. sp. A Harris has subdermal brown or black 
pigment cells on the dorso-anterior side of 
most cirrophores but lacks the golden-brown 
glandular material. Sergio and Leslie are now 
working on a paper on Pacific coast Pilargis , 
including another new species from Baja. 
Next we examined a specimen of Pilargidae 
genus A Williams 1984 brought in by Rick 
Rowe. It was from Catalina Island at a depth 
of 50 meters, and has also been recorded from 
Tanner Bank, Santa Rosa Island, and Santa 
Cruz Island at shelf depth in medium to coarse 
sand. It was noted that this specimen was 
similar to Synelmis dineti in having bidentate 
hooks and lacking biarticulated palps. The 
animal will be described by Sergio, who has all 
of LACM’s specimens of this species 
(originally identified by Sue). 
Rick had another pilargid to examine, a 
specimen identified as Sigambra setosal from 
International Treatment Plant station 2651 at a 
depth of 487 feet. It was commented that this 
station was probably too shallow for S. setosa\ 
however, we could not put an identification on 
this animal. 
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