Polynoinae Kinberg, 1856
Austrolaenilla Bergström, 1916
Austrolaenilla sp. 1
Voucher. Sea Lion: station 79MFB.
Diagnosis. Voucher is the only example of this species collected, not in good condition; robust, medium sized species; specimen is incomplete, only 10 chaetigers long fragment, 2.5mm and 2mm wide (including parapodia); body yellow to light orange in colour. All elytra missing, total number of elytral pairs unknown.
Prostomium bilobed, rounded (about as wide as long), cephalic peaks not discerned. Palps, smooth, long, tapering. Three antennae present; ceratophore of median antenna large, arising medially on prostomium; lateral antennae inserted ventrally; styles of all antenna long and slender, covered by thin, elongated papillae. Eyes not observed.
Tentacular segment with few notochaetae; two pairs of tentacular cirri, their cirrophores large and cylindrical, their styles similar to those of antennae - thin, papillated, but shorter. Second segment with biramous parapodia, chaetae, pair of elytra and ventrally with very long ventral cirrus (much longer than in subsequent segments) inserted basally and papillated (similar to antennae and tentacular cirri).
Parapodia distinctly biramous; with notopodia smaller than neuropodia; both rami with single, long acicula, extending into very long, thin acicular processes. Cirrigerous segments (those not carrying elytra) with conical dorsal tubercule inserted at the same level as elytrophores (on elytra-carrying segments); cirrophores of dorsally cirri very prominent, inserted medially on notopodia (near fascicle of notochaetae), style of dorsal cirri very long slender, papillated (similar to antennae and tentacular cirri). Ventral cirri, from chatiger 3, short, slender.
Notochaetae numerous, of varying lengths, stout with distinct rows of spines and blunt tip, straw-coloured. Upper and middle neurochaetae strait, slender, very long, with rows of spines sudistally, tips of neurochaetae unidentate and hirsute; lower neurochaetae of different type to upper and middle neurochaetae, shorter, subdistally expanded (falcate) with very faint rows of spines, narrowing into smooth (not hirsute) unidentate tip.
Remarks. Although the specimen collected here is very incomplete and not in very good condition, the characters observed show differences from A. cf. antarctica, also collected from Falkland Islands (see separate entry). Austrolaenilla sp. 1 has yellow to orange body colour and lower neurochaetae are distinctly different falcate, smooth tip, faint serration on the margin, while A. cf. antarctica is purple (dorsally) in colour and its lower neurochaetae are similar to upper and middle groups, with distinct serration on the margin and hirsute tips. Greater number of complete, better preserved specimens is necessary to fully diagnose this species and establish its identity, with a revision of this genus needed (see separate entry).
