Golfingia cf. muricaudata (Southern, 1913)

Gómez-Vásquez, Julio D., 2024, New records and five new species of sipunculans (Sipuncula) from the central and northwestern Mexican Pacific, European Journal of Taxonomy 925, pp. 179-219 : 191-193

Golfingia cf. muricaudata ( Southern, 1913)

Fig. 6A

Type locality of nominal species

Ireland ( Southern 1913: 21, pl. 4 fig. 5).

Material examined

MEXICO • 1 spec.; W coast of Baja California; 28°47ʹ15ʺ N, 115°42ʹ57ʺ W; 1 Aug. 2013; depth 1045 m; core; TALUD XVI cruise, on board R/V El Puma; EMU-13446 .

Description (EMU-13446)

Trunk 50 mm in length; rough, light brown body wall; scattered thin, cylindrical papillae. Caudal appendage 10% of trunk length, covered with cylindrical papillae. Introvert incomplete, shorter than trunk.

Longitudinal musculature continuous. Four retractor muscles (RM), dorsal RM attached to body wall anteriorly to ventral pair and more separated from ventral nerve cord. Esophagus attached to ventral RM. Two sack-shaped nephridia; nephridiopores open anteriorly anus; without spindle muscle; rectum with six thin lateral muscles; ventral nerve cord ends before internal anterior margin of caudal appendage.

Habitat

Bathyal (1045 m); muddy sand bottom.

Distribution

Western coast of Baja California.

Remarks

Despite the damage to the single specimen examined, it was placed in the subgenus Golfingia (Golfingia) because the dorsal retractor muscles are displaced. Within the subgenus only two species have a caudal appendage. One is G. (G.) anderssoni (Théel, 1911) , described from Antarctica; it has large, bladder-shaped papillae that cover an area of 65–90% of the posterior trunk length ( Cutler 1994), while the specimen examined here from Baja California has inconspicuous conical papillae. The other species is G. (G.) muricaudata , which also has inconspicuous conical papillae. Unfortunately, since the specimen is damaged, the identity of this species cannot be confirmed; more specimens are needed to clarify its status.

The nominal species, Golfingia (Golfingia) muricaudata ( Southern, 1913), was described from Ireland from depths of 475–1088 m ( Southern 1913); it has also been recorded from Japan ( Murina 1964) and the North Pacific ( Maiorova & Adrianov 2015, 2018).

Figures

Fig. 6. Golfingids. A. Golfingia (Golfingia) cf. muricaudata (EMU-13446). B–E. Nephasoma (Nephasoma) wodjanizkii wodjanizkii (Murina, 1973) (UMAR-SIPU 133). B. Lateral overview. C. Lateral view of posterior introvert. D. Internal anatomy. E. Close-up of retractor muscle origins from body wall. F. Themiste (Themiste) cf. blanda (ECOSUR-S0256). G. T. (T.) hennahi Gray, 1828 (ECOSUR-S0255). H. T. (T.) pyroides Chamberlin, 1920 (UMAR-SIPU 130). Abbreviations: see Material and methods. Scale bars: A = 2 cm; B, H = 2 mm; C, E = 1 mm; D, F = 4 mm; G = 3 mm.