Description and phylogeny of Namalycastis jaya sp. n. (Polychaeta, Nereididae, Namanereidinae) from the southwest coast of India

By

Magesh, Mathan
Kvist, Sebastian
Glasby, Christopher John

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2012

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

238

Pages

31-43

Subjects

16S rRNA , 18S rRNA , Annelida , COI , India , Namalycastis , Nereididae , new species , Phylogeny , Polychaeta , systematics

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.238.4014

 

Abstract

Namalycastis jaya sp. n. (Polychaeta: Nereididae: Namanereidinae) is described from the southern coast of Kerala in southwest India. One important characteristic feature of the species is the lack of notochaetae in all parapodia, a characteristic that it shares with at least two other species, Namalycastis elobeyensis Glasby, 1999 and Namalycastis hawaiiensis Johnson, 1903. It differs from N. elobeyensis by virtue of its smaller antennae, unequal eye size, bilobed acicular neuropodial ligule and multi-incised pygidium rim. Moreover, it differs from N. hawaiiensis byfewer teeth on the serrated blades of the sub-neuroacicular falciger in chaetiger 10, and by possessing finely serrated falcigers in posterior segments. Beyond morphological analyses, molecular phylogenetics was used for the first time for Namalycastis to support population monophyly and recognition of the new species. The analysis, using both mitochondrial and nuclear data, corroborated the morphological analysis in suggesting that our specimens represent an as yet undescribed species, Namalycastis jaya sp. n., which forms a monophyletic group among the sampled nereidid taxa. Finally, a taxonomic key for Namalycastis species recorded from the Indian region is provided.