Nephtys polybranchia, Southern, 1921

Siddique, Alfisa, Purushothaman, Jasmine, Bhowal, Aishee & Mandal, Sumit, 2021, Distribution and diversity of Polychaeta (Phylum: Annelida) in the Northern coastal waters of Bay of Bengal, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 121 (4), pp. 453-463 : 456

9. Nephtys polybranchia Southern, 1921

1922. Nephthys polybranchia Southern, Mem. Ind. Mus. 5 (8): 607–609, plate XXIV, fig. 11A–G.

Diagnosis: Elongated body possessing parapodia and 113 setigers. 36 mm in length and 2 mm in width. Proboscis contains 22 rows of subterminal papillae, with 6-10 papillae in each row. Absence of mid-dorsal papilla on the proboscis. Four antennae present on the prostomium. The notopodial acicular lobe is smaller and more circular, in comparison to the neuropodial acicular lobe. The acicular lobes of a fully developed parapodia are rounded at setiger 20. The pre- and post-acicular lobes, though small, are distinct. Presence of highly developed and digitiformed notopodial cirrus. Two kinds of setae are present: one with barred sub-distal area, found in the pre-acicular fascicles and the other being very long with denticles arranged in transverse rows found in the post-acicular fascicles. Inter-ramal cirri appear from setiger 4. Lyrate setae absent ( Fauchald, 1967).

Distribution: India- Kayankulam backwaters and Arattupuzha coast along the Southwest coast of India ( Devi et al., 1996), West coast of India from Cape Comorin to Dwarka ( Joydas & Damodaran, 2009), Mormugao, Karwar, Trivandrum ( Musale & Desai, 2011). World – Gulf of Siam, China ( Fauvel, 1932), Vietnam ( Fauchald, 1967).