Notaulax punctulata Tovar-Hernandez , Garcia-Garza & de Leon-Gonzalez, 2020

Tovar-Hernandez, Maria Ana Ana, Garcia-Garza, Maria Elena & de Leon-Gonzalez, Jesus Angel, 2020, Sclerozoan and fouling sabellid worms (Annelida: Sabellidae) from Mexico with the establishment of two new species, Biodiversity Data Journal 8, pp. 57471-57471 : 57471

Notaulax punctulata Tovar-Hernandez, Garcia-Garza & de Leon-Gonzalez sp. n.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: UANL 8142 ; recordedBy: Tulio Fabio Villalobos-Guerrero; sex: Female; lifeStage: Adult; reproductiveCondition: Ripe; Taxon: phylum: Annelida; class: Polychaeta; order: Sabellida Levinsen, 1883; family: Sabellidae Latreille, 1825; genus: Notaulax Tauber, 1879; Location: higherGeographyID: Pacific Ocean; higherGeography: Tropical Eastern Pacific; continent: America; country: México; countryCode: MX; stateProvince: Guerrero; municipality: Acapulco de Juárez; locality: Acapulco, Playa Hornitos ; maximumDepthInMeters: 3 m; verbatimLatitude: 16°51 ’26.41” N; verbatimLongitude: 99°53 ’20.70” W; Identification: identifiedBy: María Ana Tovar-Hernández; Event: samplingProtocol: By hand; eventDate: November 9, 2015; year: 2015; month: 11; day: 9; habitat: Sclerozoan of oyster attached to dock; Record Level: language: Spanish; institutionID: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León; collectionID: Colección Poliquetológica, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León; institutionCode: UANL; collectionCode: UANL, NL INV 0002-05-09 Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: UANL 8143 ; recordedBy: Tulio Fabio Villalobos-Guerrero; individualCount: 1; sex: Male; lifeStage: Adult; reproductiveCondition: Ripe; Taxon: phylum: Annelida; class: Polychaeta; order: Sabellida; family: Sabellidae; genus: Notaulax; Location: higherGeographyID: Pacific Ocean; higherGeography: Tropical Eastern Pacific; continent: America; country: México; countryCode: MX; stateProvince: Guerrero; municipality: Acapulco de Juárez; locality: Acapulco, Playa Hornitos ; maximumDepthInMeters: 3 m; verbatimLatitude: 16°51 ’26.41” N; verbatimLongitude: 99°53 ’20.70” W; Identification: identifiedBy: María Ana Tovar-Hernández; Event: samplingProtocol: By hand; eventDate: November 9, 2015; year: 2015; month: 11; day: 9; habitat: Sclerozoan of oyster attached to dock; Record Level: language: Spanish; institutionID: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León; collectionID: Colección Poliquetológica, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León; institutionCode: UANL; collectionCode: UANL, NL INV 0002-05-09

Description

Figures 10O-S, 16-18

Body shape and trunk size. Specimens flattened dorso-ventrally along the thorax, with pyriform abdomen in transversal section. Body length 15.4 mm (+13,2 mm), 1.5 mm (1.8 mm width).

Radiolar crown. Length 4.9 mm with 11 pairs of radioles. Radiolar lobes fused dorsally. Base of radiolar crown (basal lamina) short, as long as the length of three segments in lateral view, with dorsal and ventral flanges reduced (Fig. 16 A-B and D). Radioles fused by a palmate membrane, about 1/2 of radiole length. Immediately above the membrane, there is a group of 24-26 black ocelli in a single row on both outer sides of the radioles, each band as long as the space of 13 pinnules (Fig. 17 A and C-D). Radiolar flanges broad (Fig. 17 A). Radiolar tips flattened, with broad flanges and long digitiform tips, occupying the space of 12 pinnules (Fig. 17 E). Longest pinnules located at three quarters of the radiolar crown length. Radioles not sectioned to count the number of skeletal cells (see remarks to genus level). Dorsal lips as long as 1/4 of the radiolar crown length, erect, with mid-rib. Ventral lips short, ear-shaped. Dorsal and ventral pinnular appendages absent.

Peristomium. Anterior peristomial ring not exposed beyond collar (not visible). Posterior peristomial ring collar: dorsal collar margins fused to faecal groove (Fig. 16 A). Lateral collar margins entire (Fig. 16 D). Ventral collar margins incised forming rounded lappets (Fig. 16 B, E). Ventral sacs and parallel lamellae absent.

Thorax. Chaetiger 1: with straight oblique rows of spine-like notochaetae (Fig. 16 A). Spine-like chaetae from collar short, stouter, straight with blades sharply curved at the end (Fig. 10 O and Fig. 18 A). Ventral shield rectangular. Chaetigers 2-8: notopodia with superior group of short, spine-like chaetae and inferior groups of paleate chaetae without mucros (Fig. 10 P and Fig. 18 B). Neurochaetae avicular uncini, with handles as long as two times the length of crest, developed breast and several rows of minute, similarly-sized teeth occupying half of the crest (Fig. 10 Q, andFig. 18 C); neuropodial companion chaetae with rounded denticulate head and long, gently tapering asymmetrical membrane. Ventral shields broad, trapezoidal, laterally indented by neuropodial tori.

Abdomen. Segments 142 (83 abdominal segments). Interramal eyespots present (Fig. 16 F-G and Fig. 17 B). Abdominal ventral shields brown, rectangular, divided longitudinally by faecal groove. Anterior abdominal segments with paleate notochaetae, nearly rounded with mucros as long as palea width (Fig. 10 S and Fig. 18 B) and elongate, narrowly-hooded chaetae. Avicular abdominal uncini similar to thoracic ones, but handles shorter (as long as the crest length) and dentition covering 3/4 of the crest (Fig. 10 R and Fig. 18 F). Posterior abdominal segments with oval paleae with a mucro longer than three times the palea width and modified, elongate narrowly-hooded chaetae. Pygidium with two rounded black eyes.

Colour in live specimens: Unknown.

Colour in preserved specimens: Body pale with black interramal eyespots (Fig. 16 G, andFig. 17 B); collar and some areas of thorax purple (Fig. 16 C).

Tubes: Organic, horny, translucent tubes.

Diagnosis

Ventral margin of collar incised, forming rounded lappets. Long bands or radiolar ocelli (each band as long as the space of 13 pinnules), ocelli distributed in single rows of 24 ocelli each, bands located at the middle of the radiolar crown length. Interramal eyespots on abdominal segments.

Etymology

The specific epithet punctulata is the feminine of the Latin word punctulatus, meaning 'having small spots or punctures' or 'punctulate' and refers to the presence of abdominal interramal eyespots of the species.

Biology

Holotype female with fully-developed oocytes in abdomen. Paratype male with sperm in abdomen, spermatozoa with spherical nucleus and rounded cap-like acrosome (Fig. 18 F).

Taxon discussion

Abdominal interramal eyespots have been only reported in Notaulax tilosaula (Schmarda, 1861) ( Schmarda 1861) by Tovar-Hernández et al. (2017). Notaulax punctulata sp. n. differs from N. tilosaula by the following features: the palmate membrane extends until a half of the radiolar crown length in N. punctulata sp. n. (1/4 of the radiolar crown length in N. tilosaula ); radiolar tips are very long, occupying space of 10-12 pinnules width in N. punctulata sp. n. (short tips in N. tilosaula , occupying space of three pinnules width; band of ocelli in N. punctulata sp. n. occupying space of 13 pinnules (25 pinnules in N. tilosaula ); ventral lappets rounded in N. punctulata sp. n. (triangular in N. tilosaula ); lateral collar margin level in N. punctulata sp. n. (V-shaped margin in N. tilosaula ) and mucro of posterior abdominal paleae as long as three times the width of paleae (mucro as long as five times the width of paleae in N. tilosaula ).

Amongst the species of Notaulax from the Mexican Pacific, N. punctulata sp. n. is unique by the presence of interramal eyespots on the abdominal segments (Table 2 ). Notaulax californica and N. punctulata sp. n. have radiolar ocelli distributed in single rows, but in the former, there are a minor number (5-6), whereas in the second, there may be up to 24 ocelli per row. Notaulax nigroincrustata sp. n. have ocelli distributed in oval groups of 26-30 ocelli each.

Figures

Figure 10. Chaetae and uncini of species in Notaulax. A-F) Notaulax californica (Treadwell, 1906), UANL 8134; G-N) N. nigroincrustata sp. n., UANL 8138 holotype; O-S) N. punctulata sp. n., UANL 8143 paratype. A, G, O) chaetae from collar, B, H, P) paleae from thorax, C) broadly-hooded thoracic chaeta, D, I, Q) thoracic uncini, E, J, R) abdominal uncini, F, L, S) paleae from anterior abdomen, K) abdominal, elongate, narrowly-hooded chaeta, M) palea from posterior abdomen, N) posterior abdominal chaetiger. Scale bars: 30 μm.

Figure 16. Selected features of Notaulax punctulata sp. n. A) Base of crown and thorax, dorsal view, B) same, ventral view, C) thorax and anterior abdomen, lateral view, D) collar, lateral view, E) peristomium, frontal view, crown removed, F-G) interramal eyespots on abdomen as pointed with arrows. A-B, D-F) stained with Shirla stain A. Scale bars: A-G) 0.5 mm. Abbreviations: d) dorsal, v) ventral. A-B, D, F-G) UANL 8142 holotype, C, E) UANL 8143 paratype.

Figure 17. Selected features of Notaulax punctulata sp. n. A) Anterior part of crown, B) pygidium and interramal eyespots, C) radiolar bands of ocelli, D) palmate membrane, E) radiolar tip. Scale bars: A-E) 0.4 mm. A-D) UANL 8142 holotype.

Figure 18. Chaetae of Notaulax punctulata sp. n. A) Chaetae from collar, B) paleae from thorax, C) thoracic uncini, D) palea from abdomen, E) abdominal uncini, F) sperm. Scale bars: A) 40 μm, B, D) 30 μm, C, E) 24 μm, F) 1000 x magnification. A-F) UANL 8143 paratype.