Syllis magnipectinis Storch 1967
Creators: name: Salcedo, Diana L.
name: Solís-Weiss, Guillermo San Martín And Vivianne
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Annelida
Polychaeta
Phyllodocida
Syllidae
Syllis
Syllis magnipectinis

description: Syllis magnipectinis Storch, 1967
Syllis (Typosyllis) magnipectinis: Storch, 1967: 106 –107, Figs 4–5.
Typosyllis magnipectans (sic): Hartman, 1974: 617.
Typosyllis magnipectinis: Licher et al., 1995: 107 –113, Figs 1–3; Licher, 1999: 185. abb. 83; Paxton & Chou, 2000: 215; Wehe & Fiege, 2002: 164.
Syllis (Typosyllis) sp. A: Uebelacker, 1984: 30 –134, Fig. 30–126.
Material examined. 11 specimens (CPICML PO-37-083). 3 specimens, Caleta E1B1, 16°49.797’N, 99°54.062’W, 25 May 2006, 12 m, coarse sand. 4 specimens, Palmitas E2B1, 16°49.420’N, 99°54.733’W, 25 May 2006, 10.5 m, coarse sand. 2 specimens, Palmitas E2B2, 16°49.420’N, 99°54.733’W, 25 May 2006, 10.5 m, coarse sand. 2 specimens, El Jardín E3B2, 16°49.436’N, 99°54.981’W, 26 May 2006, coarse sand.
Comparative material examined. Syllis ortizi, 2 specimens (CPICML PO-37-034). MEXICO: North of Paraiso, Tabasco, 18°28´2” N, 94°08´30” O, 45 m. Syllis ortizi, 1 specimen (CPICML PO-37-034). MEXICO: East of Anton Lizardo, Veracruz 19°10´58.62” N, 95°45´31.62 O, 85 m. Syllis ortizi, 8 specimens (CPICML PO-37- 034). MEXICO: North of Nanchital, Tabasco 18°29´N, 93°59´O, 63 m.
Remarks. Syllis magnipectinis (Storch, 1967) belongs to a small group of species characterized by having falcigers with a considerably large subdistal tooth and large subdistal spines: Syllis cruzi Núñez & San Martín, 1991, Syllis glarearia (Westheide, 1974), Syllis guidae Nogueira & Yunda-Guarín, 2008, Syllis jorgei San Martín & López, 2000, Syllis lutea (Hartmann-Schröder, 1960) and Syllis ortizi San Martín, 1992. Nonetheless, this species is characterized by having midbody and posterior enlarged falcigers with very thick blades and a prominent subtriangular subdistal tooth, more than five times larger than the distal one. Syllis magnipectinis most closely resembles S. ortizi. In fact, some specimens from the Gulf of Mexico have been confused, since they were originally assigned by Uebelacker (1984) to a single species named Syllis sp. A but later recognized by San Martín (1992) and Storch (1995) as the two species mentioned above. However, S. ortizi has falcigers with a smaller subdistal tooth, and distal spines extending beyond the distal tooth.
Most specimens from Acapulco differ slightly from those described by Licher et al. (1995). However, such variations could be size-related, as small specimens have wider and shorter palps, robust falcigers lacking small basal spines, and normal falcigers with shorter blades (a character that is also size-dependent in other species such as Syllis guidae) and larger distal spinulation. Large specimens have larger and thinner palps, the blades of normal falcigers are larger and, in most cases, the spinulation becomes uniform, thus being more similar to the original description. The other examined characters agree well with the original diagnosis. Originally described from the Red Sea (Storch, 1967) and later recorded in the Gulf of Mexico and in the South China Sea, the present record is the first for the eastern Pacific. Therefore, the species may be considered as circumtropical, being now known from the tropical zones of the three major oceans of the world.
description: Published as part of Salcedo, Diana L. & Solís-Weiss, Guillermo San Martín And Vivianne, 2012, The genus Syllis (Polychaeta: Syllidae: Syllinae) in the southern Mexican Pacific, with the description of two new species and three new records, pp. 47-62 in Zootaxa 3263 on pages 50-51, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.214949