Sphaerosyllis piriferopsis Perkins, 1981 Figs 1.25-1.26

Sphaerosyllis piriferopsis Perkins 1981:1133, figs. 23 a–f, 24 a–i.– Uebelacker 1984:31-33, fig. 24 a–f.– Ruiz-Ramírez and Salazar-Vallejo 2001:130-131, fig. 5(98 –107).– San Martín and Bone 2001:613.- Russell 2007:66-69, fig. 7.

Material examined.

PAPC106, (12), coarse sand near Trypanosyllis testudinum bed, 0.5-1.3 m depth; BMER103, (8), fine to coarse sand, 1 m depth.

Description.

Length to 2.8 mm, width to 0.15 mm. Body slender, with up to 40 chaetigers. Papillae short scattered. Antennae clavate. Prostomium with two pairs of lentigerous eyes in trapezoidal arrangement. Palps fused dorsally. Dorsal cirri clavate, absent on chaetiger 2, replaced by papillae. Dorsal simple chaeta stout, present on all chaetigers. Dorsal compound falcigers unidentate with serrated blades (Fig. 1.25). Ventral falcigers smooth or with few serrations (Fig. 1.26) Slender ventral simple chaeta, only present on posterior chaetigers. Acicula enlarged subdistally, with curved, pointed tip (Fig. 1.27). Pharynx extending through 3-4 chaetigers, with anterior dorsal tooth. Proventriculus extending through 2 chaetigers, with 10-15 rows of muscle cells. Pygidium with a pair of anal cirri and several dorsal and ventral papillae.

Distribution.

Bahamas, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Belize, Venezuela.