Notophyllum splendens (Schmarda, 1861)

Kato, Tetsuya & Pleijel, Fredrik, 2002, A revision of Notophyllum Örsted, 1843 (Phyllodocidae, Polychaeta), Journal of Natural History 36 (10), pp. 1135-1178 : 1168-1170

Notophyllum splendens (Schmarda, 1861)

(gure 16) Macrophyllum splendens Schmarda, 1861: 82 , text gures a, b, pl. 29, gure 227.? Macrophyllum leucopterum Schmarda, 1861: 83 , text gures a–d, pl. 29, gure 228. Notophyllum splendens: Hartman, 1959: 158 ; Day, 1967: 151, gure 5.3 k–n.? Notophyllu m leucopterum: Pleijel, 1991: 257 . Not Notophyllu m splendens: Augener, 1913: 140–142 , gure 11 [5 N. multicirris ( Grube, 1878)];

Fauvel, 1930: 515–516 [5 Notophyllum sp. ]; Hartmann-Schröder, 1979: 82–83, gures

27–31 [5 N. multicirris ( Grube, 1878)].

Material examined. South Africa: holotype ( NMW Inv. 2168), table Bay; two specimens ( SAM A20629), Saldanha Bay, Cape, 33ss02.5¾S, 17ss58.7¾E, 13 m, 29 April 1959; one specimen ( SAM A19996), oOE Oranje River mouth; one specimen ( NMW Inv. 2167), Cape of Good Hope (holotype of Macrophyllum leucopterum ) .

Description. Holotype complete, 22 mm long and 2.6 mm wide for 79 segments. Up to 37.5 mm long and 3.8 mm wide for 101 segments (SAM-A2062 9). Body broad, of uniform width, dorso-ventrally attened; dorsum mostly covered by dorsal cirri. Prostomium rounded pentagonal, about as long as wide, with antero-ventral elongation and a pair of large rounded eyes with lenses. Length of paired antennae and palps ca two-thirds length of prostomium. Median antenna about as long as prostomium, inserted between eyes. Nuchal organs with six lobes in larger specimen (37.5 mm long) and two to three lobes in smaller specimens (ca 10 mm long). Number of lobes in holotype uncertain. Number of lobes in juveniles (<5 mm long) unknown. Proboscis probably short (SAM A20629; examined in dissection), wider than prostomium, with a single row of discoidal papillae on each side; rows absent from proximal-most part (gure 16A). Proximal part dorso-laterally with single large rounded papilla on each side. Proximal and median part of proboscis (three-quarters of total length) dorsally and ventrally covered with diOEusely distributed minute, rounded papillae, 8–10 m m in diameter. Distal part of proboscis with large oval papillae, 35–70 m m in maximum diameter. Terminal ring smooth, without papillae. Segments 1 and 2 dorsally invisible in larger specimens; juvenile specimens unknown. Tentacular cirri of segment 1 reaching ca segment 4. Dorsal tentacular cirri of segments 2 and 3 reaching ca segment 8. Ventral tentacular cirri of segment 2 reaching ca segment 4, asymmetrical, distally gradually tapered, posteriorly directed. Segment 2 with ca 10 compound chaetae arising from ventral tentacular cirrophores. Segment 3 with small neuropodial lobes with ca 10 compound chaetae and small ventral cirri. Dorsal and ventral aciculae of segments 2 and 3 unknown. Dorsal cirri of median segments broad reniform. Tips of dorsal cirri absent in larger specimens; unknown in juveniles. Dorsal cirrophores dorsally elongated, with single dorsal aciculae (gure 16B–D). Notopodial capillary chaetae absent. Neuropodia with ca 30 compound chaetae. Ventral cirri reniform. Pygidial cirri unknown. Pygidial papilla present.

Colour. Live animals with body of dark bluish green with emerald green dorsal cirri, infrequently reddish with white parapodia (Schmarda, 1861). Colour of eyes in live animal unknown. Preserved specimen brownish. Eyes blackish.

Habitat. Depth of 13 m.

Distribution. Known only from South Africa.

Remarks. The holotype of N. splendens is in poor condition. It lacks all antennae, palps and tentacular cirri, and the dorsal cirri are adhering to each other, making detailed examination impossible. The description mentioned above is based mainly on the specimens collected from South Africa by Day (1967) and deposited at the SAM.

Re-examination of the type of N. leucopterum shows that the median antenna was overlooked in the original description, and that there is a single pair of eyes as in other Phyllodocidae , rather than two pairs as stated. We here tentatively treat N. leucopterum as a junior synonym of N. splendens , a synonymy which was previously suggested by Hartman (1959) and Pleijel (1991). Should future collections indicate that several South African species are present, then, of course, the synonymy may be challenged.

Augener (1913) and Hartmann-Schröder (1979) recorded N. splendens from north-west Australia. Augener’s description, combined with a re-examination of Hartmann-Schröder’s specimens, indicates that these records instead refer to N. multicirris .

Notophyllum splendens is unique within Notophyllum in the combination of dorsally elongated dorsal cirrophores, a stout proboscis with lateral lows of discoidal papillae, and absence of notopodial capillaries. The everted proboscis of N. splendens is apparently wider than the prostomium, in contrast to the narrower proboscis in N. japonicum .