Neoamphitrite Hessle, 1917

Londoño-Mesa, Mario H., 2009, Terebellidae (Polychaeta: Terebellida) from the Grand Caribbean region 2320, Zootaxa 2320 (1), pp. 1-93 : 41

Neoamphitrite Hessle, 1917

Hessle, 1917:178–179, Textfig. 43.— Hartmann-Schröder, 1996:514.— Hilbig, 2000:260.

Type species: Amphitrite affinis Malmgren, 1866 , by original designation.

Diagnosis: Branchiae on segments 2–4, with distinct stalks; eyespots absent; lateral lappets on segment 3; ventral shields from segment 2; nephridial papillae may be present from segments 3–10; 17–39 pairs of notopodia from segment 4, chaetae distally serrated; neuropodia from segment 5, uncini avicular in single rows from segments 5–10; thereafter in double rows, arranged face to face, up to end of the thorax, then again in single rows.

Remarks: This genus is similar to Amphitrite , with the only difference being the presence of stalked branchiae in the former. Thus, since this is the only difference, these two genera need to be revised together ( Hutchings & Glasby, 1988). Nine species are valid ( Holthe, 1986b). A tenth species was recently described from the Grand Caribbean ( Londoño-Mesa & Carrera-Parra, 2005). This is the only species described in this region, although N. affinis ( Malmgren, 1866) described from Spitsbergen, Artic Ocean, and N. edwardsi ( de Quatrefages, 1865) , from St. Vaast, France, have been also reported ( Salazar-Vallejo, 1996). The main differences between species in the genus are the number of pairs of nephridial papillae, the number of lateral lappets, and the number of pairs of notopodia. Eight species have been described from subtropical waters (North Europe and North Pacific Ocean), and only three from tropical waters (Malay Archipelago and Caribbean Sea). Nevertheless, the difference between the two tropical species is that N. sibogae (Caullery, 1944) , from the Malay Archipelago, was described from deep water (538m), like those from non-tropical waters which are also found in deep water, while N. glasbyi Londoño-Mesa & Carrera-Parra, 2005 , was described from the Mexican Caribbean in shallow water (23–59m). Other species from shallow waters in the Caribbean have been reported by Kritzler (1984): N. edwardsi (29–30m), and Neoamphitrite sp. A . (12m).