Three new species of Thelepus Leuckart, 1849 from Europe and a re-description of T. cincinnatus (Fabricius, 1780) (Annelida, Terebellidae)

By

Jirkov, Igor

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2018

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

759

Pages

29-56

Subjects

cosmopolitan species , generic characteristic , identification key , morphological characters , Polychaeta , taxonomic revision , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.759.22981

 

Abstract

The review of a large amount of material previously identified as the terebellid annelid,Thelepuscincinnatus(Fabricius, 1780) shows that, within European waters from the Mediterranean to the North Pole, this species should be split into four species, three of which (T.davehallisp. n.,T.marthaesp. n., andT.paraparisp. n.) are newly described here andT.cincinnatuss. str. is re-described. These four species each show distinct distribution ranges.Thelepuscincinnatushas notopodia on almost all segments and numerous eyespots; it inhabits the high boreal and arctic shelf and the North Atlantic slope, and probably also occurs on the North Pacific shelf and slope.Thelepusmarthaesp. n.has no eyespots and inhabits deep waters of the high Arctic.Thelepusdavehallisp. n.has no eyespots and has notopodia on 1/2 to 2/3 of the anterior of the body; it inhabits boreal shelf waters (from Iceland to the Mediterranean) below the tidal front.Thelepusparaparisp. n.differs from the previous three species in that the uncini of the first uncinigerous segment has two teeth above the main fang; it inhabits shallow, coastal waters of the Mediterranean, inshore from the tidal front.