Spiophanes viriosus

Götting, Miriam, 2015, Spionidae (Annelida: ‘ Polychaeta’: Canalipalpata) from Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia: the genera Malacoceros, Scolelepis, Spio, Microspio, and Spiophanes, Zootaxa 4019 (1), pp. 378-413 : 406

Spiophanes viriosus Meißner & Hutchings, 2003

Spiophanes viriosus Meißner & Hutchings, 2003: 123, figs 1a, 2e, h, 4, 5. Spiophanes cf. kroeyeri .— Blake & Kudenov 1978: 225, fig. 27, in part. Spiophanes sp. 2.— Wilson & McDiarmid 2003.

Material examined. AM W.44566, MI QLD 2379, af, formalin.

Diagnosis. Prostomium with distinct anterolateral projections. Occipital antenna present. Nuchal organs as two long parallel ciliary bands along dorsum. Chaetal spreader of “2+3 type ” (see Meißner & Hutchings 2003) with undulate opening in chaetigers 5–7. Ventrolateral intersegmental pouches present from between chaetigers 14–15. Neuropodial hooks starting on chaetiger 15, hooks quadridentate without hood. Sabre chaetae from chaetiger 4. Dark brownish pigment posteriorly along vertical slit of glandular organs of chaetigers 9–12, most conspicuous on chaetiger 9.

Description. For a detailed species description see Meißner & Hutchings (2003). Descriptive notes here on single specimen examined in the course of the present study: Anterior fragment with 20 chaetigers, total length 4.1 mm, width 0.65 mm (measured at chaetiger 4, chaetae and postchaetal lobes omitted). Two groups of red eyes on the prostomium, four small round eyes on each side. Nuchal organs as two long parallel ciliary bands along dorsum, slightly diverging at end and terminating on chaetiger 16. Dorsal ciliated crests apparent from chaetiger 16 until the end of the fragment. From chaetiger 15, one row of maximally four quadridentate hooks without hood present in neuropodia. Sabre chaetae start on chaetiger 4. Ventrolateral intersegmental pouches first fully developed between chaetigers 15 and 16. Yellow-brown pigment in neuropodia of chaetiger 9.

Remarks. The specimen is in good agreement with the original description by Meißner & Hutchings (2003). Minor deviations concern the greater number of eyes, the length of the nuchal organ which is slightly shorter in the specimen from Lizard Island, and the first presence of fully developed ventrolateral intersegmental pouches between chaetigers 15 and 16 instead of between chaetigers 14 and 15 as originally described for S. viriosus . Only four neuropodial hooks in one row are present in the Lizard Island specimen whereas initially 5–7 hooks are mentioned in the original description. The observed differences could be due to the small size of the examined specimen from the present collection.

Habitat / Ecology. In the Lizard Island area a single specimen in subtidal depths in coral sand at Yonge Reef.

Distribution. Australia: Queensland.