Scolelepis (Scolelepis) globosa Wu & Chen, 1964

Zhou, Jin, Ji, Weiwei & Li, Xinzheng, 2009, A new species of Scolelepis (Polychaeta: Spionidae) from sandy beaches in China, with a review of Chinese Scolelepis species, Zootaxa 2236, pp. 37-49 : 46

Remarks on Scolelepis (Scolelepis) globosa Wu & Chen, 1964

Scolelepis (Scolelepis) globosa Wu & Chen, 1964 was originally described as Scolelepis (Nerinides) globosa Wu & Chen, 1964 , based on material from the intertidal flat around Zhoushan archipelago in the East China Sea. After that, there were no additional reports of the species. According to the original description, the species is characterized by globular expansions at the bases of the palps. It also can be clearly separated from other Chinese Scolelepis species by the combination of the characters of the presence of tridentate hooded hooks and occipital tentacle. Therefore, we consider it to be a valid species, but unfortunately neither the type materials nor other representative samples are available for examination.

Although the validity of Scolelepis (Scolelepis) globosa Wu & Chen, 1964 is certain, the subgeneric arrangement of the species is confusing. Wu & Chen (1964) placed the species in the subgenus Nerinides without any detailed explanation. The original description of the species lacks the morphological characters of the neuropodial postsetal lamellae in the posterior part of body, which is the most important taxonomic character for the subgenus Nerinides according to Pettibone (1963). Detailed information on the shapes of the neuropodial postsetal lamellae in this species is obviously needed.

The concept of the division of the genus Scolelepis into the subgenera Scolelepis and Parascolelepis has been followed by various subsequent authors (e.g., Imajima 1992; Blake 1996; Delgado-Blas 2006). The former is characterized by having uni-, bi- or tridentate hooded hooks, while the latter has multidentate hooded hooks. In order to avoid confusion, Scolelepis (Nerinides) globosa Wu & Chen, 1964 should be cited as Scolelepis (Scolelepis) globosa Wu & Chen, 1964 in subsequent studies.