Bradabyssa whiteavesi Salazar-Vallejo 2017, n. comb.
Creators: name: Salazar-Vallejo, Sergio I.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Annelida
Polychaeta
Terebellida
Flabelligeridae
Bradabyssa
Bradabyssa whiteavesi

description: Bradabyssa whiteavesi (McIntosh, 1885) n. comb.
Figures 46, 47
Brada whiteavesii McIntosh, 1885: 371 –372, Pl. 45, Figs 3, 4, Pl. 23A, Figs 9, 10.
Type material. New Zealand. Holotype (BMNH 1885.12.1.264), Queen Charlotte Sound (41°13'00" S, 174°10'00" E), R.V. Challenger, 18 m.
Additional material. New Zealand. Three specimens (LACM 9558), American Museum of Natural History Expedition, R.V. Vema, Cruise 18, Sta. 113 (40.5° S, 174.1° E), Cook Strait, N off Stephens Island, 117 m, 31 Jul. 1962 (complete 13 mm long, 2 mm wide, cephalic cage 2.5 mm long, 40 chaetigers; gonopodial lobes in chaetiger 5).
Description. Holotype (BMNH 1885.12.1.264), complete; body fusiform, whitish, cut transversely towards posterior end (Fig. 46A; same features in non-type specimen 47A); 16.5 mm long, 3.8 mm wide, cephalic cage 2 mm long, 20 chaetigers. Papillae covered by medium-sized sediment grains, papillae tips without sediment, probably eroded. Papillae larger dorsally, shorter ventrally; dorsal ones fusiform, tapered, posterior chaetigers with longer papillae; 4–5 transverse series dorsally, 5–6 ventrally.
Anterior end features not observed in holotype. Non-type (LACM 9558) dissected; cephalic tube short, margin smooth. Prostomium low, rounded, eyes not seen. Palps thick, longer than branchiae; palp keels large, rounded. Caruncle barely separating branchial groups (Fig. 47D). Lips distorted, dorsal lip reduced, lateral lips well developed, ventral lip reduced. Branchiae cirriform, pale, filaments arranged in several rows, with about 40 filaments per group. Nephridial lobes positioned in the lower lateral base of branchial groups.
Cephalic cage chaetae as long as half body width. Only chaetiger 1 involved in cephalic cage, 4–5 notochaetae and 3–4 neurochaetae per side, most broken.
Anterior margin of first chaetiger papillate (Fig. 46B), papillae long, sparse, probably eroded in holotype, longer in non-type specimen (Fig. 47B). Chaetigers 1–3 of similar length. Chaetal transition from cephalic cage to body chaetae abrupt; aristate neurospines present from chaetiger 2. Ventral gonopodial lobes pale, in chaetiger 5 (Fig. 46C).
Parapodia well developed, lateral. Median neuropodia ventrolateral. Notopodia and neuropodia close to each other. Notopodia with chaetal lobe rounded, with 2–3 basal long papillae, about 1/5 as long as notochaetae anteriorly, longer posteriorly, becoming about 2/3 as long as notochaetae; neuropodia with larger rounded lobes, with 1–2 long basal papillae.
Median notochaetae arranged in short transverse series, most notochaetae multiarticulate capillaries with articles short basally and medially, longer distally (Fig. 47E), 5–6 per bundle, as long as half body width. Neurochaetae multiarticulate capillaries in chaetiger 1; posterior chaetigers with aristate neurospines, arranged in short transverse series, 4–5 per bundle. Each neurospine with short rings basally, shorter medially, distally slightly curved, hyaline with long mucro (Fig. 47F).
Posterior end truncated, rounded; pygidium with anus ventroterminal, anal cirri absent (Figs 46A, 47A).
Variation. Complete additional specimen 13 mm long, 2 mm wide, cephalic cage 2.5 mm long, 40 chaetigers.
Remarks. Bradabyssa whiteavesi (McIntosh, 1885) n. comb. closely resembles B. intoshi (Caullery, 1944) n. comb. Both species have small bodies with about 20 chaetigers, possess dorsal papillae with adhering sand particles and relatively long notopodial papillae. They differ because in B. whiteavesi gonopodial papillae are digitate and parapodial papillae are half as long as notochaetae, whereas in B. intoshi, gonopodial papillae are 8- shaped and notopodial papillae can be two-thirds as long as notochaetae.
The non-type specimen was collected near the type locality but from deeper water. It is slightly smaller but has twice as many chaetigers, and has been included here with hesitation. Addition well preserved material is needed to determine variation in number of chaetigers with depth.
Distribution. New Zealand, in 18–117 m water depth.
description: Published as part of Salazar-Vallejo, Sergio I., 2017, Revision of Brada Stimpson, 1853, and Bradabyssa Hartman, 1967 (Annelida, Flabelligeridae), pp. 1-98 in Zootaxa 4343 (1) on pages 89-90, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4343.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/1041210