Onuphid polychaetes associated with the Cymodocea nodosameadows of La Gomera (Canary Islands, NW Africa) – new species and new records from the eastern North Atlantic

• Published in: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
• Main Authors: Arias, Andrés, Núñez, Jorge, Paxton, Hannelore
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2017
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315417000194; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0025315417000194

This study recognizes six species of onuphid polychaetes associated with the Cymodocea nodosa meadows of the Canary Islands. Of these, three species of the genus Aponuphis, A. bilineata, A. brementi and A. ornata have been previously reported from the eastern North Atlantic, whilst A. willsiei was only known from the western Mediterranean Sea. We describe two new species: Onuphis erici sp. nov. and Kinbergonuphis sanmartini sp. nov., of which the latter represents the first discovery of the genus Kinbergonuphis in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, we present brief notes on their ontogeny and ecology and remarks on the presence and microstructure of lateral organs observed in one of the new species.