Caulleryaspis, Sendall, Kelly & Salazar-Vallejo, Sergio I., 2013

Sendall, Kelly & Salazar-Vallejo, Sergio I., 2013, Revision of Sternaspis Otto, 1821 (Polychaeta, Sternaspidae), ZooKeys 286, pp. 1-74 : 49

Genus Caulleryaspis gen. n.

Type species.

Caulleryaspis gudmundssoni sp. n.

Diagnosis.

Sternaspids with introvert hooks tapered. Pre-shield region with 7 segments. Ventro-caudal shield flexible with abundant sediment particles firmly adhered.

Remarks.

Caulleryaspis gen. n. differs from Sternaspis and Petersenaspis gen. n. because the shield is soft and has abundant sediment particles firmly adhered to it, whereas the two other genera have shields stiff, without sediment particles firmly adhered to it. Other differences were indicated in the key above.

Caulleryaspis includes, besides the type species, Caulleryaspis gudmundssoni sp. n. from Iceland, Caulleryaspis laevis (Caullery, 1944) comb. n. from Indonesia. These species can be separated because of differences in the shield shape (see key below).

Etymology.

The genus name is to honor Dr Maurice Caullery, in recognition of his studies on polychaete reproductive biology and taxonomy, and especially because of his monograph on the Siboga Expedition, which took him 40 yr, and contained many new species. Caulleryaspis is a free combination of his last name and the second part of Sternaspis (Gr. shield) to stress the affinity with the stem genus. Gender: feminine.

Key to species of Caulleryaspis gen. n.

(distribution in parenthesis)