© The Author, 2009. Journal compilation © Australian Museum, Sydney, 2009 
Records of the Australian Museum (2009) Vol. 61: 93-199. ISSN 0067-1975 
doi: 10.3853/j.0067-1975.61.2009.1489 
Descriptions of New Serpulid Polychaetes 
from the Kimberleys of Australia and Discussion of 
Australian and Indo-West Pacific Species of Spirobranchus 
and Superficially Similar Taxa 
T. Gottfried Pillai 
Zoology Department, Natural History Museum, 
Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom 
Abstract. In 1988 Pat Hutchings of the Australian Museum, Sydney, undertook an extensive polychaete 
collection trip off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia, where such a survey had not been conducted 
since Augener’s (1914) description of some polychaetes from the region. Serpulids were well represented in 
the collection, and their present study revealed the existence of two new genera, and new species belonging 
to the genera Protula, Vermiliopsis, Hydroides, Serpula and Spirobranchus. The synonymy of the difficult 
genera Spirobranchus, Pomatoceros and Pomatoleios is also dealt with. Certain difficult taxa currently 
referred to as “species complexes” or “species groups” are discussed. For this purpose it was considered 
necessary to undertake a comparison of apparently similar species, especially of Spirobranchus, from 
other locations in Australia and the Indo-West Pacific region. It revealed the existence of many more new 
species, which are also described and discussed below. 
Pillai, T. Gottfried, 2009. Descriptions of new serpulid polychaetes from the Kimberleys of Australia and discussion 
of Australian and Indo-West Pacific species of Spirobranchus and superficially similar taxa. Records of the Australian 
Museum 61(2): 93-199. 
Table of contents 
Introduction. 95 
Material and methods .95 
Subfamily Filograninae Rioja, 1923 . 97 
Kimberley a n.gen. 98 
Kimberleya hutchingsae n.sp. 98 
Genus Protula Risso, 1826 . 98 
Protula bispiralis (Savigny, 1820). 99 
Pseudoprotula n.gen. 100 
Pseudoprotula kimberleyensis n.sp. 100 
Genus Vermiliopsis Saint Joseph, 1894 . 100 
Vermiliopsis cylindrica n.sp. 100 
Vermiliopsis glandigera Gravier, 1908 . 103 
Differences between V. infundibulum and V. glandigera . 108 
