Phyllodoce sp. 1
Phyllodocinae Örsted, 1843
Phyllodoce Lamarck, 1818
Phyllodoce sp. 1
Voucher. VINSON WEST: station 5MFA.
Diagnosis. Voucher is medium sized, incomplete specimen, 12mm long and about 1mm wide (including parapodia) for 50 chaetigers; colour in alcohol pale pink, no pigmentation except for very small brown patch, on dorsum of the first segment.
Prostomium anteriorly rounded, about as wide as long; with two pairs of prostomial appendages of similar form, short and cirriform: pair of antennae and pair of palps; with pair of red, subdermal eyes in the middle of prostomium; nuchal papilla not observed. Proboscis partially everted, with the proximal part observable; proboscis covered by soft, brown pigmented papillae arranged in 12 (6 on each side) rows and single dorsomedian row of papillae; the number of papillae per row not fully observed (likely 10 or more for paired rows and possibly about 7 per single row); distal part of proboscis not observed.
Four pairs of tentacular cirri; cirri of segment 1, dorsal and ventral cirri of segment 2, and dorsal cirri of segment 3 cylindrical, with long, tapered ends; cirri of segment 1 reaching segments 6-7, with brown spot near their bases; dorsal cirri of segments 2 and 3 reaching about segment 14. Ventral cirri of segment 2 reaching segment 6-7.
Parapodia uniramous; neuropodial lobes long, with both lobes of similar length. Dorsal cirri large, foliose, mostly missing from the posterior end of the fragments, changing throughout the body in the following fashion: anterior – oval (increasing in size posteriorly); mid body – approaching rhomboid shape; slightly longer wide.
Ventral cirri similar throughout, elongated, widest near the base, then tapering, ending in sharp, slender, elongated tip; changing in size with those in mid body region largest. Chaetae compound spinigers with very slender blades, tapering into extremely long thing tips; rostrum of chaetal shaft number of fine serrations; anteriorly Pygidium not observed.
Remarks. Proboscis was at least partially everted in the voucher specimen, confirming presence of the single dorsomedian row of papillae as in P. patagonica (see separate entry with comments on genus Phyllodoce from the region). However unlike in other Phyllodoce species collected here from Falkland Islands, the dorsal cirri of mid-body segments are not distinctly truncated and subrectangular but somewhat rhomboid (see comparative image). Further, ventral cirri have very sharp, elongated tips and specimen lacks pigmentation (except for very faint small patch on dorsum of segment 1). Due to these easily observable differences, we assign this species to Phyllodoce sp. 1, which likely represent a new species.
