Sphaerodoropsis Hartman & Fauchald, 1971

Sphaerodoropsis sp.

Fig. 29

Sphaerodoridae gen. spp. Gunton et al., 2021: 138

Material examined. SPH_01, AMW.52205, IN2017_ V03_100; 9 June 2017; off Byron Bay, NSW, Australia, beam trawl, start: 28.05°S 154.08°E, 999 m, end: 28.10°S 154.08°E, 1013 m. DNA vouchers: SPH_01 (COI, 18S,16S), AMW.52205 (COI) .

Description. Based on AM W.52205. Body ellipsoid (Fig. 29A). Dorsum four longitudinal rows of large tubercules. Macrotubicals smooth no terminal papillae. Parapodia with digitiform acicular lobe, ventral cirrus shorter (Fig. 29B–C). Approximately 13 chaetae per parapodia. Chaetae compound with blades, present inall chaetigers (Fig. 29D). Shaft wider at distal end, blades similar length along fascicles.

Distribution. IN2017_V03, Station 100. Pilot whale carcass, off Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia in 999–1013 m.

Remarks. Similar to Sphaerodoropsis exmouthensis Hartmann-Schröder, 1981 re-described by Capa & Bakken (2015); type locality shallow water from Tantabiddi Creek, Exmouth, Western Australia. Our specimens have more chaetae per fascicle than S. exmouthensis . The species is genetically distinct from all other Sphaerodoridae (Table S18) and forms an unresolved clade with Sphaerodoropsis cf. martinae Desbruyères, 1980 and ( Ephesiella abyssorum (Hansen, 1879) — Sphaerodorum flavum Örsted, 1843 — Sphaerodoropsis cf. longianalpapilla Böggemann, 2009 — Sphaerodoropsis aurantica Capa & Rouse, 2015) (pp 0.91) (Fig. 30). Due to the poor morphological condition of our specimens and a poorly resolved phylogenetic tree, the species is not formally described here.