Polychaetes (Annelida) associated with macroalgae and coral reefs at a protected tropical island from the Atlantic coast

• Main Authors: Costa,Dimitri, Prata,Jessica, Christoffersen,Martin
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Pensoft Publishers 2020
• Subjects: Marine worms; Morro de São Paulo; Northeast Brazilian; taxonomy; new records; Morro; South Atlantic Ocean
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3897/arphapreprints.e60362; https://preprints.arphahub.com/article/60362/

Polychaetes are typical marine invertebrates in the macroalgae and coral reefs environments, with a particular emphasis on tropical waters. In this study, 44 specimens were collected, belonging to 10 families, 13 genera and 13 species, among which the families Nereididae (with three species) and Amphinomidae (two spp.) were the most representative. The species Terebella plagiostoma (10 individuals), Ceratonereis singularis (9) and Eurythoe complanata (9) were the most abundant.This work represents the first study of polychaetes performed at the Morro de São Paulo region (Tinharé Island), a protected island from Northeast Brazil (state of Bahia). The samples (algae in the fringing reef ecosystems) were collected in 2015, at low tide in the intertidal to shallow subtidal zones. The species Hyboscolex longiseta Schmarda, 1861 is reported here for the first time in the South Atlantic Ocean. The errant polychaetes predominated at the collected samples (61.36% of the total abundance). These numbers evidence how little we know about coastal marine invertebrate fauna in Brazil and indicate the need for further sampling, especially on protected islands.