One new species of Micronephthys Friedrich, 1939 and one new species of Nephtys Cuvier, 1817 (Polychaeta: Phyllodocida: Nephtyidae) from eastern Australia with notes on Aglaophamus australiensis (Fauchald, 1965) and a key to all Australian species
Author
Dixon-Bridges, Kylie
Author
Gladstone, William
Author
Hutchings, Pat
text
Zootaxa
2014
3872
5
513
540
journal article
42409
10.11646/zootaxa.3872.5.5
f8797de0-a812-4762-a9c6-9217fb6f6ce7
1175-5326
230023
64FAFA27-5CBA-4649-A826-443E0614F317
Aglaophamus australiensis
(
Fauchald, 1965
)
Nephtys australiensis
Fauchald, 1965
: 334
–335, figs 6.1–2.—Hutchings, 1974: 180.—
Hutchings and Recher, 1974
: 105
, 108.
Nephtys gravieri
.—
Augener, 1927
: 116
.—
Rullier, 1965
: 18
(
non
Augener, 1913
).
Aglaophamus australiensis
.—
Ravara
et al
., 2010a
: 401
–402.
Remarks.
Ravara
et al
. (2010a)
undertook a phylogenetic analysis of the family
Nephtyidae
using both morphological and molecular data. They found that
Nephtys australiensis
was embedded within
Aglaophamus
and formally transferred this species to
Aglaophamus
. The branchiae in
A. australiensis
are poorly developed but slightly recurved which explains why
Fauchald (1965)
originally described this species, common in estuarine and shallow protected bays in eastern
Australia
, as belonging to the genus
Nephtys
. The shape of branchiae and their development has until
Ravara
et al
. (2010a)
been the main character used to separate genera; involute (
Aglaophamus
,
Inermonephtys
), recurved (
Nephtys
,
Dentinephtys
) or absent or poorly developed (
Micronephthys
), although other characters have also been used. The inclusion of
N. australiensis
in the
Aglaophamus
clade indicates the homoplasy in the shape and development of branchiae. They found the only morphological apomorphies for the genus
Aglaophamus
were acutely pointed acicular lobes and finely spinulated postacicular chaetae although
Dnestrovskaya and Jirkov (2011)
have recorded the presence of spinose chaetae (same as spinulated of
Ravara
et al
. 2010a
) in
A. malmgreni
(
Théel, 1879
)
so this apomorphy needs to be revisited and shows the need to examine nephtyid chaetae under the SEM to clarify the ornamentation of the capillary blades.
Ravara
et al.
(2010a)
also suggest that other characters such as the presence or absence of lyrate chaetae, arrangement of papillae on the pharynx and shape of nuchal organs should also be taken into account.
Ravara
et al
. (2010a)
also provides a table of the diagnostic characters for the five genera which they accept as valid for the family.
We have included notes on this new placement of
A. australiensis
(
Fauchald, 1965
)
as this study provides a key to all species of Australian nephtyids, and we suggest that the transfer in
Ravara
et al
.’s (2010a)
is somewhat hidden within a phylogenetic revision of this family.
This species is widespread in estuarine sites in eastern
Australia
, which are fully marine except after heavy rain (see comments in
Hutchings 1999
). While
N. longipes
may occur in the same estuary this species occurs closer to the seaward entrance than
A. australiensis
.