New species of polychaete (Annelida: Polychaeta) from Bermuda
Marine invertebrate biologists, Pat Pocklington and Dr. Kathy Coates have just described three new species of segmented worms, polychaetes, from a bed of Manatee Grass along the shore of Tynes Bay, Bermuda*. The species are named Caulleriella cabbsi (Family: Cirratulidae), Schistomeringos rogeri (Family: Dorvilleidae), and Exogone sp. (Family: Syllidae). The last species, Exogone sp., was not given a full name because only two specimens were ever seen and these were lost before a complete description could be made. Hopefully, more specimens of this tiny species will be collected soon or, perhaps, another scientist will recognize it in their collections and then it can be completely described, named, and reference specimens put in a museum collection.
It is easy to believe that we have found all the species that occur in Bermuda, because Bermuda is so small, and many scientists have done research here. However, these three new species are just a few of more than 12 undescribed polychaete species Ms. Pocklington has found in the collections from the Tynes Bay seagrass bed. Previously, the polychaete species in Bermuda were considered to be relatively well-studied and to have low species diversity and low endemism compared to other tropical and subtropical oceanic islands, but none of these ideas may be well-founded. Polychaete worms can be very abundant and are important to the overall health of many different marine habitat types; each species makes a unique contribution and is important to a balanced environment.
*Pocklington, P. & K. A. Coates. 2010. Three new species of polychaete (Annelida: Polychaeta) from Bermuda. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 123 (3) 220-233.
Caulleriella cabbsi A. dorsal view of head and anterior body; B. bidentate, sigmoid, hook-like seta.
Abbreviations: b, branchia; bs, basal scars of branchiae; c, dorso-medial peristomial crest; pe, peristomium; ps, prostomium; set 1, first body segment with setae; t, tentacle.
Exogone sp., A. dorsal view of head and anterior body, showing placement of eyes and tiny antennae, B. simple seta.
Abbreviations: dc, dorsal cirrus; e, eye; ma, median antenna, p, palps; ph, pharynx; pr, proventriculus; set 2, second body segment with setae; tc, tentacular cirrus.
Schistomeringos rogeri A. dorsal view of head and anterior body, with maxillae that can be seen through the body wall; Bi. lateral view of a parapodium showing different types of setae and the overall form of the parapodium, Bii. details of a furcate seta, with two capillary setae lying below, C. mandibles (ventral jaw parts), D. one of a pair maxillae (dorsal jaw parts), showing inferior and superior rows of denticles, E. two pairs of free inferior (to the left) and superior (to the right) maxillar denticles.
Abbreviations: a, antenna; cs, capillary seta; dc, dorsal cirrus; e, eye; f, falciger-type seta; mx, maxillae seen through dorsal body wall; p, palp; sacs, supra-acicular furcate seta; seg 1, first body segment; set 4, fourth body segment with setae.
Schistomeringos rogeri. Photograph taken through a compound microscope, furcate seta, capillary seta and falciger-type setae; differential interference contrast photomicrograph. Abbreviations: cs, capillary seta; f, falciger-type seta; sacs, supra-acicular furcate seta.
