Clymenella cf. koellikeri (McIntosh, 1885)

Faulwetter, Sarah, Simboura, Nomiki, Katsiaras, Nikolaos, Chatzigeorgiou, Giorgos & Arvanitidis, Christos, 2017, Polychaetes of Greece: an updated and annotated checklist, Biodiversity Data Journal 5, pp. 20997-20997 : 20997

Clymenella cf. koellikeri (McIntosh, 1885)

Notes

In the Mediterranean only reported from Greece ( Simboura 1996). The specimens differ from Clymenella torquata (Leidy 1855) (originally from the East coast of North America but occurring non-natively on the Atlantic coast of Europe) in the shape and number of acicular chaetae and from Clymenella cincta (Saint-Joseph, 1894) (occurring in the Mediterranean) in the shape of the collar and of the nuchal organs. The Greek specimens are most similar to the Pacific species Clymenella koellikeri , from which they differ in the following characters: Nuchal slits of Clymenella koellikeri reach up to the middle of the cephalic plate (until the lateral notches in the Greek material) and the rim or the collar of the 4th chaetiger is smooth or slightly wavy in Clymenella koellikeri , whereas one Greek specimen shows a small lateral recess at the rim of the collar ( Simboura 1996). The species is found regularly in Greece but is usually reported at genus level due to its uncertain identity. It may be an overlooked or cryptic species.