Palola Lizard

Schulze, Anja, 2015, Six genetically distinct clades of Palola (Eunicidae, Annelida) from Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Zootaxa 4019 (1), pp. 695-706 : 700

Palola Lizard Island Clade 2

( Fig. 2 D–F)

Material examined. AM W.44914, MI QLD 2401, sequenced and photographed; AM W.44006, MI QLD 2341, sequenced; AM W.44181, MI QLD 2359, sequenced; AM W.44337, MI QLD 2359, juvenile.

Description. One of the specimens (AM W.44914) much larger ( Fig. 2 D, E) than the others which are thin and threadlike ( Fig. 2 F). Anterior fragments closely examined for the three sequenced specimens. The larger specimen (AM W.44914) is 52 mm long and up to 5 mm wide with 165 chaetigers. The smaller specimens are 5 mm long and 0.7 mm wide (AM W.44181) and 9 mm long and 1 mm wide (AM W.44006) with 34 and 63 chaetigers, respectively. Branchiae present in AM W.44914 from chaetiger 123 to end of fragment. No ventral eyespots. Mandibles protruding from mouth in smaller specimens; thin and almost transparent. Head and body in larger specimens with brown pigment dorsally on prostomium and posterior portions of peristomial rings and anterior chaetigers ( Fig. 2 D–E). Antennae, palps and peristomial and parapodial cirri without pigment. Smaller specimens without pigmentation. Antennae and palps slightly medially inflated in larger specimen and with a blunt tip. In AM W.44914 median antenna reaches to chaetiger 4, lateral antennae reach to chaetiger 2 and palps to first peristomial ring. Tapering peristomial cirri reach forward to first peristomial ring. Eyes dark, round with a ventral notch and nestled between lateral antennae and palps. Acicula brown. Other chaetae not examined.

Remarks. The smaller specimens belonging to this clade are difficult to distinguish from members of clades 1 and 5 which are also largely without pigmentation. However, in clades 1 and 5 the anterior margins of the mandibles are serrated, whereas they are smooth in clades 3 and 4. The larger specimens show a distinctive pigmentation pattern with brown pigment in the posterior, dorsal portion of the peristomial rings and anterior chaetigers and distinctive shape of antennae and palps. The latter are slightly medially inflated and have blunt tips, as opposed to tapering with sharp tips as in the other clades. Palola Lizard Island Clade 2 falls into species group A and the mean genetic distance to any of the other clades in species group A is 20% and over.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Palola Lizard Island clades 1 (A – C) and 2 (D – F). Specimens shown in A – C and F ethanol preserved; specimen shown in D and F fixed in formalin and later transferred to to 70 % ethanol. Labels in A – C serve as a reference for all following figures. A. Palola Lizard Island clade 1, AM W. 44034, dorsal view; B. Palola Lizard Island clade 1, AM W. 44146, ventrolateral view, note serrated anterior margin of mandible and length ratio between first and second peristomial ring; C. Palola Lizard Island clade 1, AM W. 44034, dorsal view of parapodia in posterior region of the fragment, arrows indicate the black pigment spots on the dorsal side of the parapodia; D. Palola Lizard Island clade 2, AM W. 44914, dorsal view; E. Palola Lizard Island clade 2, W. 44914, lateral view; F. Palola Lizard Island clade 2, AM W. 44006, lateral view. Abbreviations: cc = capillary chaetae, cf = compound falcigers, dc = dorsal cirrus of parapodium, la = lateral antenna, m = mandible, ma = median antenna, mx = maxillae, p = palps, pc = peristomial cirrus, 1 pr = first peristomial ring, 2 pr = second peristomial ring, pro = prostomium. Scale bars: A, B, F = 0.1 mm; C = 0.05 mm; D, E = 0.5 mm.