Leocrates harrisae Salazar-Vallejo 2020, n. sp.
Creators: name: Salazar-Vallejo, Sergio I.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Annelida
Polychaeta
Phyllodocida
Hesionidae
Leocrates
Leocrates harrisae

description: Leocrates harrisae n. sp.
Fig. 31
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: D9D73B24-6B3D-4F44-9CAE-8B9D007F48B5
Leocrates chinensis: Ehlers 1901: 83-84, Pl. 11, Figs 10-15; Augener 1922a: 187 (non Kinberg, 1866).
Leocrates claparedii: Hartman 1940: 212–213, Pl. 33, Figs 32–35 (non Costa in Claparède, 1868).
Type material. Eastern Pacific. Revillagigedo Islands. Holotype (LACM 10146), off Sulphur Bay, Clarion Island, R / V Velero III, Sta. 305 (18°20’30” N, 114°44’30” W), 27 m, sand, coralline algae fragments, 11 Jun. 1934.
Additional material. Eastern Pacific. Gulf of California. One specimen (LACM 10147), San Gabriel Bay, Isla Espirítu Santo, R/V Velero III, Sta. 633 (24°24’10” N, 110°21’55” W), 32 m, corallines, 6 Mar. 1937 [15 mm long, 2 mm wide]. Juan Fernandez. Two specimens (ZMB 3722), dried-out, and one slide with 5 parapodia, no further data, L. Plate, coll. [specimens carefully brushed in a 1:1 white vinegar/ethanol solution to remove excess of salt particles; 11–14 mm long, 1.5–2.0 mm wide].
Description. Holotype (LACM 10146) complete, mature, bent laterally, slightly damaged (Fig. 31A), branching gonads (ovaries) filling coelom. Body obconic, blunt anteriorly, tapered posteriorly, 22 mm long, 4 mm wide, 16 chaetigers; right parapodium of chaetiger 9 previously removed (missing), left parapodium of chaetiger 7 dissected (kept in container), body wall middorsally broken in chaetiger 14, a midventral dissection from mouth to chaetiger 9 previously made (Fig. 31C). Body pale, eyes brownish.
Prostomium slightly wider than long, slightly wider anteriorly (Fig. 31B). Lateral antennae directed ventrally, with ceratophores distinct, lateral antennae slightly shorter than prostomium, 1.5 times longer than palps; palpophores twice longer than palpostyles (left palpostyle without tip). Median antenna short, surpassing prostomial centre, not reaching prostomial anterior margin, inserted between posterior eyes.
Eyes brownish, anterior eyes each 1 / 10 prostomial width, smaller than posterior ones, slightly emarginate anterolaterally, more distant to each other than posterior, round eyes.
Nuchal organs lobes horizontal C-shaped, completely concealed by anterior margin of tentacular belt; lateral ciliated bands thin, visible dorsally. Tentacular cirri broken, longest one reaching chaetiger 2. Lateral cushions low, slightly and irregularly projected throughout body. Longitudinal striae visible along anterior and middle segments, posterior ones too distended.
Pharynx not exposed, observed through previous dissection (Fig. 31C). Lateral vesicles not seen. Anterior margin with about 30 regular constrictions. Dorsal and ventral jaws single, brownish, exposed, tapered, ventral jaw smaller than dorsal one.
Most dorsal cirri missing, some remaining without tips, size relation to body width unknown. Chaetigers 1–4 without notochaetae; notochaetae present along chaetigers 5–16, broken off in several parapodia, up to 40 per bundle, most arranged in fascicles, notochaetae subdistally denticulate, denticles fine (not visible in 10x). Notacicular lobes tapered, blunt, neuracicular lobes projected, slightly longer than wide (Fig. 31D). Neurochaetae about 20 per bundle, blades decreasing in size ventrally, bidentate, 4–11 times longer than wide, guards approaching subdistal tooth, sometimes broken (Fig. 31E).
Posterior region tapered. Preanal segment with cirri broken, dorsal ones 2–3 times wider than ventral ones. Pygidium with anus terminal, anal cirri broken, reaching preanal segment.
Oocytes in ovaries and loose in coelom throughout body, including parapodial coelomic space, each oocyte about 100 µm. No sperm surrounding oocytes.
Etymology. This species is named as an homage to Leslie Harris, Collection Manager of the Allan Hancock Foundation Polychaete Collection in the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, in recognition of her generous help, support, experience and advice during the last 30 yr for our studies on polychaetes. The species-group name is a noun in the genitive case (ICZN 1999, Art. 31.1.2).
Remarks. Leocrates harrisae n. sp. is remarkably unique by having anterior eyes of similar size, or smaller than posterior ones. Hartman (1940) recorded this species for Western Mexico as L. claparedii (Costa in Claparède, 1868), originally described from the Mediterranean Sea. The main difference between these two species is the size of palpophores versus palpostyles. In L. harrisae palpophores are smaller, being 1.5–2.5 times longer than palpostyles, whereas in L. claparedii palpophores are longer (3–4 times longer than palpostyles).
In her publication, Hartman (1940) gave no species name after the genus and in the preceding species, she listed first the name she was using, and L. claparedii was inserted above because labels for the specimens and the corresponding jar containing them have L. claparedii written on them. Hartman (1940: 213) made illustrations for prostomial and neurochaetal features, including one with a hood. She also indicated she followed Okuda (1937: 270) who recorded L. claparedii for Japan, but her specimens differ because “the posterior eyes are as large as the anterior ones, and the middle prostomial antenna is inserted posterior to the eyes.”
The records of L. chinensis for Juan Fernandez by Ehlers (1901) and Augener (1922b) were based upon two sets of different specimens, each with only two specimens (ZMB 3722), but the Swedish specimens that Augener recorded were not requested for this research. The Berlin specimens are dried-out now. With hesitation, they are regarded as conspecific with L. harrisae on the basis of the illustrations by Ehlers (1901, Pl. 11, Figs 10–15), especially regarding the relative size of eyes. These figures show the posterior eyes are as large as the anterior reniform ones, or even slightly larger than them, and because the smaller specimen has some remaining pigmentation and the eye size is similar between anterior and posterior eyes. However, better specimens are needed to clarify their affinities, and concluding about their similarities with L. harrisae.
Distribution. Revillagigedo Islands, off Western Mexico, among corallines in 32 m water depth.
description: Published as part of Salazar-Vallejo, Sergio I., 2020, Revision of Leocrates Kinberg, 1866 and Leocratides Ehlers, 1908 (Annelida, Errantia, Hesionidae), pp. 1-114 in Zootaxa 4739 (1) on pages 58-59, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4739.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3672547