Armandia tubulata Parapar & Moreira, 2015, n. sp.
Creators: name: Parapar, Julio
name: Moreira, Juan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Annelida
Polychaeta
Opheliidae
Armandia
Armandia tubulata

description: Armandia tubulata n. sp.
(Figs 1 F, 14–16, 18B)
Material examined. Seven specimens in three samples. Holotype: AM W.47327, MI QLD 2370. Paratypes: AM W.47328, MI QLD 2337; AM W.47329, MI QLD 2340; AM W.47330, MI QLD 2370 (3); AM W.47331, MI QLD 2370, on SEM stub.
Diagnosis. Parapodia biramous, with prechaetal lobe, ventral lobe and dorsal cirrus on each parapodium; prechaetal lobe short and asymmetrical, with a ventrally displaced tip. Anal tube long and narrow, tube-like. Tube opening directed posterio-ventrally, appearing obliquely truncate in lateral view; not laterally compressed; posterior border provided with 6 pairs of finger-like anal cirri of about 1/5 as long as dorsal tube length; paired basal cirri and internal unpaired anal cirrus.
Description. Based on holotype. Specimen complete, 11.0 mm long and 1.0 mm wide, with 29 chaetigers. Body slender, slightly tapering towards anterior end and truncated at posterior end. Prostomium conical, provided with a pair of lateral, small red eyes and a dorsal one (Fig. 14 A); palpode well-developed but short and narrow, twisted (Figs 14 A, 15A). One pair of ring-shaped nuchal organs (Fig. 15 B); pharynx eversible (Fig. 14 A), oral tentacles not seen (but present in paratypes; Fig. 15 C). Branchiae present from CH 2– CH 26; last three chaetigers (CH 27– CH 29) abranchiate; branchiae short, slightly surpassing parapodium of following chaetiger, not decreasing in length in posterior chaetigers. Parapodia biramous, with prechaetal lobe, ventral lobe and dorsal cirrus on each parapodium (Figs 14 D–I, 15E–F, 16A–D). Prechaetal lobe short and asymmetrical, with a ventrally displaced tip. Lateral eyespots anterior to parapodia on CH 7– CH 17, orange, horizontally oval; those of CH 7 and CH 15– CH 17 smaller than others. Simple capillary chaetae in two bundles, notochaetae generally longer than neurochaetae. Anal tube long and narrow, tube-like, of same width along its length (Figs 14 B, 16E–F). Anal tube opening directed posterio-ventrally, appearing obliquely truncate in lateral view; not laterally compressed; ventrally as long as about 2 chaetigers, dorsally as long as about 3 chaetigers (Figs 14 C, 16E). Posterior border provided with 6 pairs of finger-like anal cirri of about 1/5 as long as dorsal tube length (Fig. 14 B); paired basal cirri and internal, unpaired anal cirrus not observed (but present in one paratype, see below).
Remarks. The shape of the anal tube of A. tubulata n. sp. resembles that of A. leptocirris Grube, 1878 and A. andamana Eibye-Jacobsen (2002). Armandia leptocirris was described from the Philippine Islands, and later reported in Sri Lanka (Willey 1905), the Solomon Islands (Gibbs 1971) and South Africa (Day 1967, Fig. 25.2.h, as A. leptocirrus). The drawing of A. leptocirris presented by Day (1971) (Fig. 17 F) shows an anal tube long and obliquely truncated in lateral view, quite similar to that of A. tubulata. Nevertheless, in A. leptocirris the anal tube is opened posterio-dorsally instead of postero-ventrally. Armandia andamana has not been reported since it was described by Eibye-Jacobsen (2002). This species is similar to A. longicaudata but it lacks an unpaired anal cirrus which is present instead in A. longicaudata and A. tubulata n. sp.
The paratypes of A. tubulata n. sp. measure 9–11 mm in length, and show that the size and the number of chaetigers are constant. One paratype (AM W.47329) has an internal unpaired ventral cirrus. The branchiae are lacking in the last three chaetigers; those and the first chaetiger show a small dorsal elevation in the postchaetal lobe, as it happens in A. dolio n. sp. and A. paraintermedia n. sp. (Fig. 14 D, I).
Etymology. The epithet tubulata (L.) refers to the tubular shape of the anal tube.
Habitat / Distribution. A sublittoral species only found in SW LI coast, and almost restricted to Vicki’s Reef sampling sites (85.7%) (Fig. 1 F). Found from 1 to 10 m depth on different bottom types (dead coral rubble, fine sand and calcareous algae).
description: Published as part of Parapar, Julio & Moreira, Juan, 2015, Six new species of the genus Armandia Filippi, 1861 (Polychaeta, Opheliidae) from Lizard Island (Great Barrier Reef, Australia), pp. 577-603 in Zootaxa 4019 (1) on pages 595-599, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4019.1.19, http://zenodo.org/record/241350