Eunice impexa Grube 1878

Zanol, Joana, Hutchings, Pat A. & Fauchald, Kristian, 2020, Eunice sensu latu (Annelida: Eunicidae) from Australia: description of seven new species and comments on previously reported species of the genera Eunice, Leodice and Nicidion, Zootaxa 4748 (1), pp. 1-43 : 5

Eunice impexa Grube 1878

Eunice impexa Grube, 1878: 159 .— Fauchald 1992: 174.

Eunice tubifex — Augener 1913: 278 .— Fauvel 1917: 230 (not Crossland 1904).

Material examined. New South Wales. Minnie Waters, coll. Australian Museum Party, 14 Feb 1965, AM W.197058 (l). Port Stephens , 73–82 m depth, dredged, mud, coll. J.C. Yaldwyn & D.F. McMichael, 22–23 Jun 1963, AM W.3829 (5). Off Malabar Beach, Sydney , Stn 15, coll. Shelf Benthic Survey, 1975, AM W.9071 (l). Thompsons Bay , undercut reef, 16 Dec 1948, AM W.197059 (l). Munganno Point, Twofold Bay , 9 m depth, ascidians on subtidal wharf pile, coll. S. Keable and S. Perry, 19 Dec 1985, id. P. Hutchings 1985, AM W.201407 (l). 14 km off Eden, trawled in 95 m, coll. Capt. Webb, 20 Apr 1949, id. P. Hutchings 1986, AM W.3528 (l). East of Cape Howe , 37°22.3’S, 150°2.2’E, 75 m depth, coll. CSIRO Fisheries (Gascoyne), 19 Aug 1962, AM W.197056 (3). South Australia. Spencer Gulf, Tiparra Reef, 5 m depth, under rocks, coll. S. Shepherd, 25 May 1973, AM W.5945 (l).

Western Australia. Sandy Cape 4, northface, Rottnest Island , stone washings, coll. P. Kott, AM W.197057 (l). Fremantle, west side of Carnac Island , low tide, coll. W. Ponder, 18 Dec 1971, AM W.197060 (l). Northern Territory. Stokes Hill, Power House, Darwin , off screens, coll. E. Pope, 22 Oct 1965, AM W.197831 (1).

Remarks. Four species, Eunice cultrifera n. sp., E. impexa , E. tubicola ( Treadwell, 1922) and E. tubifex Crossland, 1904 , have knife-shaped appendages in anterior compound chaetae and bidentate appendages in posterior ones. Eunice tubifex and E. tubicola have single subacicular hooks and the color of the hooks closely resembles that of the acicula. In E. impexa , two subacicular hooks are present in nearly all parapodia along their distribuion and subacicular hooks are lighter in color than acicula in any given chaetiger.

Eunice impexa has been previously reported from Port Lincoln in Australia ( Zanol et al. 2010). The material from Australia, which originally had been identified as E. tubifex , all have multiple subacicular hooks lighter than aciculae characteristic of E. impexa . One additional species, E. schizobranchia , has dark subacicular hooks lighter than aciculae; however, this species has distally bidentate compound chaetae in all chaetigers.

Type locality. Cape of Lapinig , Philippines .