Polycirrus Grube, 1850
Polycirrus sp. 1
Voucher. LOLIGO: station L14FB.
Diagnosis. Voucher specimen reasonably well preserved if incomplete; 6.5mm long, 0.8 mm wide for 13 thoracic chaetigers and 6 abdominal uncinigers (posteriorly incomplete); dark yellow to light orange in colour. Dorsum anteriorly tessellated; anterior end with 4-5 inflated, rounded structures (probably damage?). Venter anteriorly with mid-ventral groove and discrete ventro-lateral pads; pads discrete to about chaetiger 6 (=segment 8). Upper lip comprising single (medial) lobe only, margin of lobe convoluted. Pygidium not observed.
Thorax with 13 chaetigers. Notochaetae composed of long and short tapering capillaries. Uncini beginning on 1st abdominal segment (=segment without notochaetae, with uncini only). Neuropodial tori erect rectangular pinnules, similar along body. Uncini with short neck and straight to convex base, with one large and one small tooth above main fang in lateral view; subrostral process present as low, rounded protuberance.
Remarks. Polycirrus sp. 1 agrees in some respects with P. hesslei Monro, 1930 described from Falkland Islands. They share 13 thoracic segments with notochaetae and uncini present from 1st abdominal unciniger (=uncini absent on segments with notochaetae). Monro’s type is housed at NHM London and was also checked (see also re-description by Glasby and Hutchings, 2013), however the much larger size of the holotype compared to Falklands Island specimens complicates a meaningful comparison. However, the upper lip of Falklands Island specimen appears to be comprised of single lobe with convoluted rather than trefoiled as in P. hesslei and dorsum of anterior end is tessellated rather than smooth. This is probably a new species, but further work is needed to provide a full description of this species. Genus Polycirrus has been recently revised by Glasby and Hutchings (2013).
