Polychaetes of Greece: an updated and annotated checklist
Author
Faulwetter, Sarah
Author
Simboura, Nomiki
Author
Katsiaras, Nikolaos
Author
Chatzigeorgiou, Giorgos
Author
Arvanitidis, Christos
text
Biodiversity Data Journal
2017
5
20997
20997
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.5.e20997
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.5.e20997
1314-2828--20997
Ophelia bicornis Savigny in Lamarck, 1818
Ophelia bicornis
Savigny in Lamarck, 1818 |
Ophelia radiata
(Delle Chiaje, 1828)
Notes
Species complex with a confused taxonomic history. Originally described from the Gulf of Naples.
Fauvel (1927)
considered
Ophelia bicornis
and
Ophelia radiata
as distinct based on the number of gill pairs (
Ophelia radiata
: 14 pairs;
Ophelia bicornis
: 15 pairs) and geographic distribution. However, both species and intermediate forms (with 14 gill pairs on one side and 15 on the other) have been found to co-occur by
Britton-Davidian and Amoureux (1982)
, who also found genetic differences between the two forms in an Atlantic population, with asymmetric specimens belonging to either of the two genetic variants. Based on these findings, the authors consider the species distinct. However, they were not able to assign Mediterranean specimens to either of the two Atlantic forms.
Maltagliati et al. (2005)
consider the results inconclusive and refer to the complex as
Ophelia bicornis
sensu lato.
Parapar (2012)
studied individuals of both
Ophelia radiata
and
Ophelia bicornis
from the collections of the Natural History Museums in Copenhagen and Madrid and could not find any differences apart from the number of gill pairs - a character which he considered too unreliable for discrimination.