Semivermilia annehoggettae, Kupriyanova, Elena K., Sun, Yanan, Ten Hove, Harry A., Wong, Eunice & Rouse, Greg W., 2015

Kupriyanova, Elena K., Sun, Yanan, Ten Hove, Harry A., Wong, Eunice & Rouse, Greg W., 2015, Serpulidae (Annelida) of Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Zootaxa 4019 (1), pp. 275-353 : 312-315

Semivermilia annehoggettae n. sp.

( Figs 18 , 19 )

Semivermilia spec . —ten Hove & Kupriyanova 2009: 21 fig. 7D [Lizard Island, Qld; SEM of double hollow chambers].

Type material. Holotype: AM W.47575, stn.G236, east lagoon near Bird Islet, 9 m, coll. G. Rouse & E. Kupriyanova, 29 Oct 2005, specimen in tube with partly damaged ovicells. Paratypes: AM W.47576, stn.G240, Osprey Island, intertidal rubble zone, coll. G. Rouse & E. Kupriyanova, 31 Oct 2005 (3 plus 3 used for SEM).

Other material examined. AM W.28200 (7 plus tubes on granite rock), stn.19, Turtle Beach, intertidal, boulders and cobbles in coarse sand, coll. H. ten Hove, 5 Mar 1986; AM W.28325 (2, tube fragments only), between Lizard Head and Coconut Beach, undersides of boulders on rock, little sand, low tide, coll. H. ten Hove, 23 Jun 1983; AM W.28418 (as Pseudovermilia ), lagoon, coll. J. Anderson, 22 Jun 1983; AM W.45411, MI QLD 2386; AM W.47577 (tube with ovicells), stn.G232, between First Beach and Osprey Island, coral rubble, snorkeling, 1 m, coll. G. Rouse & E. Kupriyanova, 26 Oct 2005; AM W.47578 (3), stn.G241, off Osprey Island, coll. G. Rouse & E. Kupriyanova, 31 Oct 2005; SAM E3628, Ser54, stn.G240, Osprey Island, intertidal rubble zone, coll. G. Rouse & E. Kupriyanova, 31 Oct 2005; ZMA V.Pol. 4796 (4+4?), between First Beach & Osprey Island, reef flat, dead corals & rubble in sand, 3–4 m, coll. H. ten Hove, 17 Jun 1983; ZMA V.Pol. 5533 (2), stn.16, North Point, sloping reef, mainly dead, slightly silted corals, 3–17 m, coll. H. ten Hove, P. Hutchings & M. Reid, 1 Mar 1986; ZMA V.Pol. 5534 (13, as Semivermilia spec .), North Reef, 14°40'S, 145°27'E, underside of boulders on rock, low tide, little sand, coll. H. ten Hove, 22 Jun 1983; ZMA V.Pol. 5535, stn.18, lagoon near east entrance, sheltered side of reef, near sandy bottom, 2–20 m, coll. H. ten Hove, 3 Mar 1986 (separated from ZMA V.Pol. 4776, Pseudovermilia or Semivermilia spec .); ZMA V.Pol. 4800 (10), Granite Head, 14°39'S, 145°27'E, from underside of boulders on rock, little sand, subtidally, coll. H. ten Hove, 18 Jun 1983; ZMA V.Pol. 4806 (12), Mermaid Cove, underside boulders in surf, subtidal & low intertidal, coll. H. ten Hove, 20 Jun 1983.

Description. TUBE: white, about 0.4 mm wide, with lumen of 0.3 mm; anteriorly with double hollow chambers on top ( Fig. 18 A–D). If broken, these chambers may appear as three separate thin sharp longitudinal keels.

BRANCHIAE: with 5–6 pairs of radioles, arranged pectinately, not connected by inter-radiolar membrane. Branchial eyes absent.

PEDUNCLE: smooth, circular in cross section, inserted as second radiole; without distal wings, clearly separated from opercular ampulla by constriction ( Fig. 18 C).

OPERCULUM: simple semi-transparent inverted cone, sometimes inner vesicle visible inside, with flat, also (semi-)transparent endplate or just flat surface ( Figs 18 B, C; 19A). Pseudoperculum absent.

COLLAR AND THORACIC MEMBRANES: collar trilobed, continuous with short thoracic membranes ending at 2nd thoracic chaetiger.

THORAX: with collar chaetiger and 6 uncinigerous chaetigers ( Fig. 19 A). Tori positioned along mid-line, triangular depression absent. Collar chaetae limbate, of two sizes ( Fig. 19 B). Subsequent chaetae limbate, of two sizes, Apomatus chaetae starting at chaetiger 3 ( Fig. 19 C). Uncini saw-to-rasp shaped, with up to 15 teeth in profile view and up to 4 teeth in the row above the wide gouged peg (dental formula P:5:4:3:3:2:1:1:2:2:1:1:1:1:1) ( Fig. 19 D).

ABDOMEN: abdominal chaetigers up to 30. Uncini rasp-shaped, with up to 12 teeth in profile view and up to 6 rows of teeth above wide gouged ( Fig. 19 E). Anterior chaetae and posterior capillary chaetae not observed (see Remarks). Posterior glandular pad absent.

SIZE: length up to 2 mm, width of thorax up to 0.2 mm. Branchiae and operculum accounting for 1/3 of entire length.

COLOUR: white to yellowish ( Fig. 18 B, C).

Etymology. The species is named after Dr. Anne Hoggett, the director of LIRS .

Remarks. This small species occurs cryptically, it is reminiscent of S. pomatostegoides , but with very different operculum, simple transparent inverted cone lacking any chitinous enforcement. The most distinct character of this species is the tube with one or several consecutive pairs of hollow "pipes" anteriorly. These hollow chambers on top break easily and only rarely remain intact, but the remaining tube, with its flattened chambered sides, is typical enough. The function of these pipes is unclear, they clearly resemble brood chambers found in other small serpulids, but we actually observed lecithotrophic larvae of various stages ( Fig. 19 G) being brooded inside the tubes proper, not in the chambers. The thoracic uncini are saw-to-rasp shaped, which is typical for Semivermilia . Abdominal chaetae were looked for under SEM in three specimens, but not observed, so assumed absent.

Reproduction. Lecithotrophic larvae brooded inside the tube, no larvae were found inside paired ovicells.

Type locality. Lizard Island, Qld, Australia.

Distribution. Qld, Australia.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Semivermilia annehoggettae n. sp. A. Tube with typical paired ovicells, SAM, stn. G 241; B. Live animal in tube, stn. G 240, AM 47576; C. Holotype, stn. G 236, AM W. 47575; D. Tubes with typical paired ovicells, stn. G 232, AM W. 47577. Photos: G. Rouse. Scale bars: A, B = 0.2 mm, C, D = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 19. Semivermilia annehoggettae n. sp., SEM images, AM W. 47576 (A – E), SAM stn. G 232 (F, G). A. Ventro-lateral view of entire animal; B. Collar chaetae; C. Apomatus and limbate chaetae of third thoracic chaetiger; D. Uncini of second chaetiger; E. Uncini of posterior chaetiger; F. Tube with paired brooding chambers; G. Larvae of various developmental stages: trochophore (leftmost), metatrochophore (middle two) and nectochaeta with 3 chaetigers (rightmost). Photo: A – E—E. Kupriyanova & S. Lindsay, F, G—G. Rouse. Scale bars: A = 100 µm, B, D – E = 2 µm, C, F – G = 10 µm.