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Records of the Australian Museum (2009) Vol. 61 
com.) also alerted the present author to the fact that the 
Indo-West Pacific species is P. actinoceros Morch, 1863, 
and not P. stellatus (Abildgaard, 1789). 
Ten Hove & Kupriyanova (2009: 78) provide additional 
data with regard to opercular insertion, branchial eyes, and 
mouth palps. With regard to opercular insertion, however, 
they state that “from the fact that the first and second 
branchial radiole separated by the base of the peduncle, it is 
inferred that it is derived from the second normal radiole.” 
Subfamily Serpulinae 
Macleay, 1840, sensu stricto (emended) 
Type genus Serpula Linnaeus, 1758 
Type species Serpula vermicularis Linnaeus, 1758 {vide 
Heppel 1963) 
Remarks. The subfamily name Serpulinae sensu stricto 
has been attributed to Macleay, 1840 by Pillai (1971), 
Lommerzheim (1979: 132), Jager (1983: 33, 1993: 78) and 
Radwanska (1994: 41, 2004: 39); to Rioja, 1923 by Uchida 
(1978: 67) and Hartmann-Schroder (1996: 561). 
Macleay’s (1840: 387) Tribe Serpulina was based on the 
Upper Silurian fossil serpulid genus Serpulites. It is a name 
published before 1900, and it is derived from the stem of 
the generic name Serpula L. In terms of the rules of ICZN, 
authorship of the subfamily name Serpulinae is credited to 
Macleay (1840). 
The subfamily diagnosis presented below takes into 
account the morphological characters of the extant genera 
constituting the Serpula-Spiraserpula-Crucigera-Hydroides 
clade (see Pillai & ten Hove, 1994). 
Diagnosis. Operculum usually present: inserted in position 
of second branchial radiole; always chitinous; peduncle non- 
pinnulate, may be pinnulate in early juveniles of certain taxa. 
Depending on taxa, consists of a funnel-shaped structure 
bearing raii ending in radial lobes only, rarely simple and 
with few or no radii and radial lobes; or a proximal funnel- 
shaped structure with radii and radial lobes bearing a distal 
crown of spines (corona or verticil); or a funnel-shaped 
structure, bearing a number of blunt processes proximally 
below it. Inter-radiolar membranes absent; thoracic 
membranes present; apron, present in most taxa, absent in 
some as an adaptation to internal tube structures. Special 
collar chaetae frequently bayonet shaped, bearing a number 
of teeth on boss; may be reduced or modified in certain taxa. 
Thoracic uncini: saw-shaped in certain taxa, saw-shaped to 
rasp-shaped in others; most anterior uncinal tooth in thoracic 
and abdominal uncini larger than rest, simple. Distal ends 
of abdominal neurochaetae shaped like asymmetrically 
‘flattened trumpets’, with one side longer than other, and 
bearing numerous serrations or denticulations. Tube not 
coiled; devoid of internal tube structures; or, coiled and bear 
internal tube structures. 
Remarks. Diagnoses of the individual genera are presented 
in turn on the basis of their type species as they are dealt 
with. The Genus Crucigera Benedict, 1887, type species 
Crucigera websteri Benedict, 1887, which is not present in 
the Kimberleys collection but occurs in Australian waters, 
is distinguished from the other members of the Serpula- 
Spiraserpula-Hydroides-Crucigera clade by its possession 
of characteristic processes or swellings proximally below 
its Serpula-Wkt funnel-shaped operculum. Differences in 
form, number and arrangement of those proximal processes, 
besides other characters, are employed to distinguish 
between its species. 
Hitherto unused morphological characters 
Two hitherto unused useful additional morphological 
characters are employed in this paper, since they were found 
to be useful in distinguishing between apparently similar 
species. 
The first relates to the unserrated notch occurring between 
the boss and the blade in bayonet-shaped special collar 
chaetae. Comparisons of the unserrated notch between 
several species of Serpulinae were undertaken by the present 
author (unpublished), including 17 in the present paper. It 
was found that the length of the unserrated notch relative to 
the serrated part of the blade or length of the teeth on the 
boss, is reasonably constant for each species, and can be 
useful in their identification. This is especially so in newly 
formed special collar chaetae with their bosses and blades 
partly or wholly still within the collar fascicle, since older 
chaetae could be abraded to various extents with use. Six 
character states can presently be recognized with regard that 
character. The first two relate to the absence of an unserrated 
notch, either due to: ( a ) the entire blade being serrated, e.g., 
in Serpula nudiradiata n.sp. (Fig. 30A-E), or (b) the entire 
blade being unserrated, e.g., in Spiraserpula caribensis Pillai 
& ten Hove (1994: figs 14K-M, 15B-I). The remaining four 
concern the length of the unserrated notch relative to either 
the length of the teeth on the boss, or the length of the blade, 
as follows: (c) short, i.e. shorter than or equal to the length 
of the teeth on the boss, e.g., in Spiraserpula snellii, Pillai 
& ten Hove (1994) and Fig. 35E-G in the present paper; 
(d) moderately long, i.e., longer than main teeth on boss, 
but up to about a third the length of blade as in Serpula (?) 
sp. (Fig. 31D-H), Spiraserpula zibrowii Pillai & ten Hove 
(1994: fig. 12F-I) and Spiraserpula plaiae Pillai & ten 
Hove (1994: fig. 13N-T); (e) very long, i.e. longer than a 
third of the length of the blade (Fig. 17G-I) as in Hydroides 
pseudexaltatus n.sp.; if) distally serrated, i.e., the entire blade 
beyond the boss, except for its distal end, is unserrated, a 
character state presently known to occur in only a single 
species, namely, Serpula narconensis Baird, 1864, (Fig. 22F 
in present account). 
The second character relates to the gap separating the 
anterior abdominal tori of the two sides. In the present study 
it was observed that, during ontogeny, the anterior abdominal 
tori are initially short and located laterally in the earliest 
juveniles. As they grow older, additional uncini are added 
on at the medial end of each torus with the result that the 
tori gradually extend medially and become more dorsolateral 
in position. Depending on the species, as the worm grows 
older, the tori extend dorsally the corresponding pairs of 
the two sides may even almost meet or meet mid-dorsally. 
The uncinal tori of the more posterior abdominal segments 
however, do not increase in length as in the anterior segments, 
with the result that they gradually become more dorsolateral 
and lateral. 
While abdominal uncinal tori occur laterally in the 
adults of certain species of Hydroides, more apomorphous 
conditions occur in others, as illustrated by the following 
