Polygordius kiarama Avery, Ramey & Wilson, 2009, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Avery, Lynda
name: Ramey, Patricia A.
name: Wilson, Robin S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Annelida
Polychaeta
Polygordiidae
Polygordius
Polygordius kiarama

description: Polygordius kiarama sp. nov.
Figures 1 F, 2A–D
Material examined. Holotype: Australia: New South Wales. Coniston, S of Port Kembla, 34° 28’ S 150° 53’ E, 3 Aug 2006, (MV F165641).
Paratypes: 6 paratypes, same data as holotype, MV F165640, SEM stub MV F162527, AM W35243, AM W35244; USNM 1121880, USNM 1121881. 2 paratypes: Australia: Victoria: Eastern Bass Strait, 15.3 km ESE of eastern edge of Lake Tyers, Stn MSL-EG 97, 37° 53.383’ S 148° 15.4’ E, Feb 1991, 43 m, coarse sand, (MV F165630, MV F165631; 5 paratypes: Eastern Bass Strait, 2.9 km SE of Cape Conran, Stn MSL-EG 113, 37° 50’ S 148° 38.9’ E, Feb 1991, 29 m, coarse sand, (MV F 165632, MV F 165633, wholemount microslide of 3 paratype specimens MV F 165634; 2 paratypes: Eastern Bass Strait, 13.1 km E of eastern edge of Lake Tyers, Stn MSL-EG 93, 37° 49.9’ S 148° 14’ E, Feb 1991, 21 m, coarse sand, (MV F165635, MV F165636, MV F165637; 2 paratypes: Eastern Bass Strait, 10.8 km E of eastern edge of Lake Tyers, Stn MSL-EG 118, 37° 50.9167’ S 148° 12.83’ E, 25 Sep 1990, sand (MV F165638, MV F165639).
Non-type material: Australia: New South Wales. Off Nowra, Stn SLOPE 15, 34° 58.4’ S 151° 23.2’ E, 16 Jul 1986, 1650– 1750 m, 10 specimens (MV F134238); Port Kembla, 34° 29’ S 150° 55’ E, Oct 1995, 2 specimens (MV F151917); Port Kembla, 34° 29’ S 150° 55’ E, Oct 1995, 50 specimens (MV F151902).
information for P. triestinus was taken from original species descriptions (type material was either lost or never
deposited); n.a. = not applicable, n.d.= no data available, n = number of specimens measured.
Character/Species P. arafura sp. nov. P. jouinae Ramey, Fiege and Leander, P.triestinus
2006 Hempelmann, 1906 Australia: Bass Strait. Western Bass Strait (15 MV registered lots) including: 59 km WNW of Cape Farewell, King Island, Stn BSS 81 DP, 39° 28’ S 143° 17’ E, 10 Oct 1980, 103 m, coarse sand, 2 specimens (MV F134280); 52 km WNW of Cape Farewell, King Island, Stn BSS 80 DP, 39° 25’ S 143° 23’ E, 10 Oct 1980, 103 m, medium sand, 1 specimen (MV F134276); 64 km WNW of Cape Farewell, King Island, Stn BSS 83 G, 39° 31’ S 143° 12’ E, 11 Oct 1980, 122 m, medium sand, 2 specimens (MV F134319); 48 km WNW of Stokes Point, King Island, Stn BSS 85 G, 40° 3’ S 143° 24’ E, 11 Oct 1980, 122 m, coarse sand, 1 specimen (MV F134269)
Central Bass Strait, 44 km NE of Cape Wickham, King Island, Stn BSS 203, 39° 22’ S 144° 18.3’ E, 23 Nov 1981: 60 m, coarse sand, 3 specimens (MV F145912; SEM stub: MV F 162528)
Eastern Bass Strait (26 MV registered lots) including: South of Point Hicks, Stn SLOPE 33, 38° 19.6’ S 149° 24.3’ E, 23 Jul 1986, 930 m, 5 specimens (MV F134251); South of Point Hicks, Stn SLOPE 32, 38° 21.9’ S 149° 20’ E, 23 Jul 1986, 1000 m, 5 specimens (MV F134249); 11.2 km E of eastern edge of Lake Tyers, Stn MSL-EG 27, 37° 51.4167’ S 148° 13.167’ E, 25 Sep 1990, 32 m, sand-shell, 10 specimens (MV F134259; SEM stubs: MV F162524, MV F162525, MV F162526); 13.1 km E of eastern edge of Lake Tyers, Stn MSL-EG 24, 37° 50.03’ S 148° 14.183’ E, 25 Sep 1990, 21 m, sand-shell, 5 specimens (MV F134262); 2.9 km SE of Cape Conran, Stn MSL-EG 114, 37° 50’ S 148° 38.9’ E, Feb 1991, 29 m, coarse sand, 20 information for P. ijimai, P. leo, and P. appendiculatus was taken from original species descriptions unless otherwise
specified. n.a. = not applicable, n.d. = no data available, undetermined = description is incomplete or can not be
interpreted with confidence, n = number of specimens measured, and superscripts: f, rc for observations taken from a
figure in the original species description rather than being explicitly stated in the text, and data taken from Rota and
Carchini (1999), respectively.
specimens (MV F134315); 7.8 km ESE of eastern edge of Lake Tyers, Stn MSL-EG 26, 37° 51.65’ S 148° 10.6’ E, 25 Sep 1990, 38 m, sand-shell, 1 specimen (MV F134271) and wholemount microslide MV F 163290); 5.7 km W of Cape Conran, Stn MSL-EG 110, 37° 48.85’ S 148° 39.8’ E, Feb 1991, 22 m, coarse sand, 5 specimens (MV F145909).
Distribution. Australia. South eastern Australia (Fig. 1 F). Habitat marine, inshore (including sandy inshore bays), shelf and slope, 21–1650 m, mostly from well-sorted, calcareous sediments.
Description. Size range of material examined 3.8–11.6 mm long, 0.10–0.0.28 mm wide (n =19), pygidial region about equal to body width but preceded by slightly narrower region thus appearing inflated.
Prostomium conical (0.08–0.14 mm long; n =15), with blunt tip (Fig. 2 A). Eyes absent. Paired antennae (0.08–0.22 mm long; n =15) almost attached to each other at the base, apparently very stiff and remain parallel for some distance (Fig. 2 A). Ratio of antenna to prostomium length 1.8 for holotype, (range 1.2–2.0, n =13). Head fold deep. Dimensions of holotype given in Table 3.
Pygidium inflated, bulb-like (Fig. 2 B). Pygidial glands present, ~20 oval glandular pads (length= 0.10–0.12, width= 0.056–0.064 mm, n =3) with 35–36 pores per pad (Fig. 2 C). Pygidial appendages present; 2 pygidial cirri attached subterminally between glandular belt and anus, cirri inserted ventro-laterally (length= 0.1–0.4 mm, n =9) (Figure 2 B). Anal opening central; anal lobes present; 7–8 lobes (Fig. 2 D). Neither eggs nor sperm could be seen in any specimen examined in temporary or permanent whole body mounts.
Discussion. Polygordius kiarama sp. nov. is most similar to the three species that have pygidial glands and subterminal pygidial cirri including Polygordius leo, Polygordius ijimai and Polygordius appendiculatus (Table 1). However, P. kiarama sp. nov. can be clearly distinguished from these three species by the following characters (see also Table 3). Polygordius kiarama sp. nov. has ~20 oval pygidial glands and 2 pygidial cirri inserted ventro-laterally, whereas P. leo has 40 elongate glands and 8–15 pygidial cirri arranged radially around the glandular region. Izuka (1903) described P. ijimai as having numerous papillae arranged in a number of longitudinal rows or zones on the pygidium, however, it is undetermined whether these represent pygidial glands. Rota and Carchini (1999) interpreted these “papillae” as elongate glands but here, since no figures are provided with the original species description and efforts to locate type material have not been successful, we conclude that the presence or absence of pygidial glands remains undetermined for this species (Table 3). However, Polygordius ijimai differs from P. kiarama sp. nov. in that it has 3 pygidial cirri including 2 positioned laterally and the other mid-dorsally. Polygordius appendiculatus has 30 round glands, 2 pygidial cirri positioned laterally, and eyes.
Variability in antenna length and hence in the ratio of antenna to prostomium length is more extreme than reported for other Polygordius spp. (although range of variation is not often available in published descriptions). The range of values reported here for antenna:prostomium is 1.2–2.0 (n =13) and values at the lower end of this range may be due to damage, although none was evident (several even shorter antennal length values were discarded due to obvious damage). Only one specimen had antenna:prostomium greater than 1.8 and this was from a number of more typical individuals from one station (MV F148025). We judge that the variability for antenna to prostomium length observed for P. kiarama sp. nov. is not taxonomically significant.
Etymology. The specific name “ kiarama ” is derived from an Australian Aboriginal name meaning "Place where the sea makes a noise" and is also the name given to the Aboriginal people of the region surrounding modern Kiama.
description: Published as part of Avery, Lynda, Ramey, Patricia A. & Wilson, Robin S., 2009, New Polygordiidae (Polychaeta) from the Australian region, pp. 59-68 in Zootaxa 2068 on pages 63-67, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.187027