Sphaerodoropsis Hartman and Fauchald, 1971
Sphaerodoropsis sp. 1
Voucher. INFLEXIBLE: station 4MFB.
Diagnosis. Small sized species; voucher specimen short and maggot-like, tapering anteriorly and posteriorly; 2mm long and 0.3mm wide for 15 chaetigers. Six sessile and distally rounded, enlarged globular macrotubercles in each of the two transverse rows per chaetiger; macrotubercles spread out (not tightly packed) in a zig-zag pattern on dorsum (dorsum easily visible); the lateralmost macrotubercles often smaller than others. Uniramous parsapodia short, cylindrical with basal papillae; ventral cirri short, digiform; chaetae compound, unidentate. Venter covered with scattered small papillae and with one large rounded papilla on ventral to parapodia of chaetiger 6.
Remarks. Falkland Island specimens belong to group of Sphaerodoropsis with more than 4 rows of macrotubercles (Borowski, 1994). Several species with similar number and arrangement of macrotubercle are known, including those known from the region. Important characters that differentiate between species, related to number and patterns formed by papillae on ventrum and parapodia (see Moreira et al., 2004 for details). While papillae on the ventrum of Falkland Islands are present, further work would be needed (ideally with the help of SEM) to establish their pattern and compare this with the known species. For now, we assign this specimen to morphospecies Sphaerodoropsis sp. 1.
