Sphaerodoropsis sp. 2
Sphaerodoropsis Hartman and Fauchald, 1971
Sphaerodoropsis sp. 2
Voucher. ENDEAVOUR: station 9MFA.
Diagnosis. Small sized but robust species; voucher specimen short and maggot-like; 2.2mm long and 1mm wide for about 25 chaetigers. Prostomium inconspicuous.
Two transverse rows of macrotubercles per chaetiger. About 15 sessile and distally rounded, globular macrotubercles in each row; macrotubercles relatively small, mostly of similar size, tightly packed, arranged in a zigzag to regular pattern on dorsum (dorsum almost completely covered); distally macrotubercle with a small red spot, internally a red stalk observed through integument; additional single row of such macrotubercles also present ventrally to parapodia, in a few segments two such macrotubercles present ventrally.
Uniramous parapodia extremely short, cylindrical with; ventral cirri short, digiform. Chaetal fascicles arranged in a curved transverse row behind acicular lobe, numbering 6–10 chaetae per fascicle.
All chaetae semi-compound; blades as long as wide; with an outer distal thin spine in some chaetae; shaft with widened distal end and saw-toothed spinulation, continuing along most of blade length. Pygidium inconspicuous.
Remarks. This species in easy to distinguish by a very high number of macrotubercle (around 15), which are slightly smaller than in most other species. Although Sphaerodropsis represent a genus with large number of species, only few species possess such a large number of macrotubercles as well as similar type of chaetae. These include: S. minuta (Webster & Benedict, 1887); S. spissum (Benham, 1921); S. multipupillata (Hartmann-Schroder, 1974); S. paracapense (Hartmann-Schroder, 1974) and S. polypapillata Hartmann-Schroder & Rosenfeldt ,1988, with the latter species described from the Southern Ocean. Falkland Island specimen appears to differ in possessing reddish pigmentation distally on macrotubercles. Further work will be needed to compare type material of existing species, but it is likely that Falkland Island specimens represents a new species. For now, we assign this specimen to morphospecies Sphaerodoropsis sp. 2.
