Bathyeliasona Pettibone, 1976: 23

Bonifácio, Paulo & Menot, Lénaïck, 2019, New genera and species from the Equatorial Pacific provide phylogenetic insights into deep-sea Polynoidae (Annelida), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 185, pp. 555-635 : 581-582

Bathyeliasona Pettibone, 1976: 23 .

Type species: Macellicephala abyssicola Fauvel, 1913 .

Diagnosis (emended): Short body, dorsoventrally flattened, up to 18 segments. Prostomium bilobed. Frontal filaments present. Eyes absent. Nuchal organs absent ( Bathyeliasona abyssicola , Bathyeliasona kirkegaardi and Bathyeliasona nigra ) or present ( Bathyeliasona mariaae sp. nov.). Median antenna present, lateral antennae absent. Facial tubercles absent. Tentaculophores with acicula and chaetae. Pharynx with two pairs of jaws; smooth margin; with nine pairs of pharyngeal papillae. Dorsal tubercles absent. Elytrophores prominent, up to eight pairs, on segments 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15. Parapodia subbiramous, notopodia shorter than neuropodia; noto- and neuropodia with elongate acicular lobe; tips of noto- and neuroaciculae not penetrating epidermis. Notochaetae stout, distally with spinous rows; notochaetae stouter ( Bathyeliasona mariaae sp. nov.) or more slender ( Bathyeliasona abyssicola , Bathyeliasona kirkegaardi and Bathyeliasona nigra ) and narrower than neurochaetae. Neurochaetae greatly expanded and flattened distally, serrated on both sides. From segment 3, ventral cirri inserted subdistally on neuropodia. Nephridial papillae present ( Bathyeliasona nigra ) or absent ( Bathyeliasona mariaae sp. nov.). Pygidium prominent, with dorsal anus.

Remarks: The diagnosis of the genus is emended to add the following characters observed in the new species described below: nuchal organs present and notochaetae stouter than neurochaetae.