Terebellobranchia Day, 1951

Londoño-Mesa, Mario H., 2009, Terebellidae (Polychaeta: Terebellida) from the Grand Caribbean region 2320, Zootaxa 2320 (1), pp. 1-93 : 65

Terebellobranchia Day, 1951

Day, 1951:58, Tex-Fig. 8B-E.— Day, 1967:750.

Type species: Terebellobanchia natalensis Day, 1951 , by original designation.

Diagnosis: Three pairs of branched branchiae, starting on segment 2 or 3, thereafter discontinuous on posterior segments; eyespots present or absent; lateral lappets absent; ventral shields from segment 1; pairs of notopodia from segment 4 along all the body; notochaeta distally serrate, twisted in posterior chaetigers; neuropodia from segment 5, uncini avicular in single rows in segments 5–9 or 10; thereafter in double rows, arranged face to face, up to the end of the body or closely the end.

Remarks: Terebellobanchia has three described and valid species, T. hugonis Rullier, 1972 , from New Caledonia, T. natalensis Day, 1951 , from South Africa, and T. mchughae Londoño-Mesa and Carrera-Parra, (2005) , recently described from the Mexican Caribbean . A fourth described species, Terebella hiata Treadwell, 1931 , is transferred to this genus as Terebellobranchia hiata ( Treadwell, 1931) comb. nov. The genus was initially erected for T. natalensis , with branchiae on segments 3, 7 and 13, notopodia from segment 4, and neuropodia from segment 5 ( Day, 1951). Nevertheless, the relative position of the second and third pairs of branchiae as well as the first pair of notopodia differ in the included species: T. hugonis has branchiae on segments 3, 4 and 7, notopodia from segment 3 and neuropodia from segment 4 in double rows along 6 segments; Terebellobranchia mchughae has branchiae on segments 3, 4 and 7, notopodia from segment 4 and neuropodia from segment 5 in double rows along the next 5 segments; and T. hiata has branchiae on segments 2, 5 and 8, notochaetae from segment 4 and neurochaetae from segment 5 in double rows along 6 segments. Thus, a revision of T. hugonis is required in order to elucidate whether this species has notopodia and neuropodia from segments 3–4, or from segments 4–5, respectively.