Revision of Pilargis de Saint-Joseph, 1899 (Annelida, Polychaeta, Pilargidae)
Author
Salazar-Vallejo, Sergio I.
Author
Harris, Leslie H.
text
Journal of Natural History
2006
2006-04-26
40
3 - 4
119
159
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222930600594212
journal article
10.1080/00222930600594212
1464-5262
4669300
Pilargis berkeleyae
Monro, 1933
(
Figures 5
A–E, 6A–C)
Pilargis berkeleyi
(
sic
)
Monro 1933
, p 673–675,
Figures 1–4
;
Hartman 1947
, p 491–494, Plate 59,
Figures 1–8
;
Hartman 1968
, p 383–384, 5 figures.
Pilargis berkeleyae
Pettibone 1966
, p 161
–164,
Figures 1
,
2
(
partim
,
non
Figure 2a, b
).
Type material
Eastern Pacific Ocean
:
holotype
(
BMNH
1933.1.14.1),
Friday Harbor
,
Washington
, coll.
E. Berkeley. Non-type
mature female collected in the same locality and by the same person (LACNHM-1714).
Two
juveniles (LAMNH-3492),
Velero IV
,
Stat.
3492 (33
°
549300N, 118
°
299110W), 26 fathoms, black mud,
15 September 1955
.
Redescription
Holotype
an anterior fragment, dissected posteriorly;
19 mm
long (excluding the everted pharynx),
2 mm
wide about setiger 20, 57 setigers. Body pale; dark brown pigmented glands on dorsal cirrophore, starting in setiger 3 on the right, 4 on the left. Two large lateral dark glands behind the insertion of tentacular cirri (eyes?). Body verrucae sparse, small, mainly on anterior end and parapodial lobes (
Figure 5A
).
Prostomium fused with peristomium; palps globose, palpostyles tiny. Antennae cirriform, placed dorsally on the basis of palps. Peristomium 1.3 times longer than first setiger. Tentacular cirri cirriform, as wide as dorsal cirri of setiger 1.
First setiger with dorsal cirri about twice as long as dorsal tentacular cirri (
Figure 5B
). Dorsal cirri of setiger 1 three times as long as second dorsal cirri; right second dorsal cirri missing. All
parapodia
with dorsal cirrophore globose; anterior setigers with few small dark glands (
Figure 5C
), concentrated under the epidermis. Median
parapodia
with cirrophore turgent, thick, with dark glandular area completely filling the cirrophore. Posterior
parapodia
with gland mass perimeter less heavily pigmented (
Figure 5D
); glandular material concentrated slightly below the insertion of cirrostyles. No additional pigmented materials visible. Dorsal cirrostyles thick, digitate, about one-third to one-fourth as long as cirrophore. Ventral cirri thin, cirriform, can be as long as acicular lobe in anterior setigers; in most cases not surpassing the acicular lobe. Superior neurosetae mostly smooth capillaries, inferior bundle setae limbate, finely spinulose, distally bifid.
Pharynx everted, globose, transparent, broken in three sectors; it has two lobes clearly separated from the inside. Right setiger 8 has been previously removed; lumen can be seen from the outside; gut diverticula may start some setigers before it. Non-type mature female (LACNHM-1714) with eggs in median and posterior
parapodia
from setiger 240, one to three large eggs (
200 mm
each) per parapodium, others in coelom, spread out after parapodial removal.
Figure 5.
Pilargis berkeleyae
Monro
, holotype BMNH-1933.1.14.1. (A) Anterior end in dorsal view (body laterally distorted); (B) same, close-up; (C) right setiger 22 in posterior view; (D) right setiger 46 in posterior view; (E) dorsal view of setigers 41–44. Scale bars: 380 mm (A); 200 mm (B); 270 mm (C, D); 700 mm (E).
Variation
Non-type specimen is a very large anterior fragment of a mature female,
170 mm
long,
2 mm
wide at setiger 20, 482 setigers. In spite of its large size, the glandular portion over anterior surface of dorsal cirrophore is small, and the integument is rough, with sparse small verrucae, concentrated over the anterior end and cirrostyles.
Parapodia
very corrugated with longitudinal and transverse streaks (
Figure 5E
). Dorsal cirrophore well developed, not clearly cut from parapodial lobe, few spherical glands inside it, without pigmentation; cirrostyles digitate, 1.5 times longer than wide, with few verrucae concentrated over its dorsal surface. Ventral cirri directed laterally, digitate, twi to three times longer than wide, surpassing setal lobe. Neurosetae long smooth capillaries and limbates finely spinulose, bidentate. Everted pharynx broken, no internal septum was seen.
One juvenile with large globose structures in anterior segments (
Figure 6A
), could be yolk granules and, if so, indicative of a lecitotrophic development. Besides pigmented glandular areas in dorsal cirrophore, many dark granules irregularly placed over the back (
Figure 6B
), while ventral surface has black spots restricted to parapodial bases (
Figure 6C
).
Discussion
The relative size and abundance of verrucae do not change with sexual maturity. Further, the development and position of the glands over the
parapodia
are very consistent and useful characters; thus the more closely allied Californian species,
P. berkeleyae
Monro, 1933
and
P. maculata
, cannot be separated using verrucae abundance but they can more easily be identified using the pattern of glandular development on
parapodia
. The former has glands that extend over the cirrophore, occupying from the subsurface to the inner portion of the cirrophore, while the latter has glands more or less restricted to the anterior surface of parapodial lobes, and they are rather superficial. The record by
Imajima (1987
, p 162) may not belong to this species because of the presence of abundant large verrucae (see
Imajima 1987
,
Figure 7
), and the insertion of those illustrations by
Blake (1994)
might promote confusion. Further, the record of a commensal worm in
Chaetopterus
tubes (
Britayev 1993
), implies a species different from that found by Imajima, judging by the size and abundance of verrucae (seen in his figures). They should be compared with
P. pacifica
Uschakov, 1955
, originally described from Northern
Japan
Sea.
Distribution
Described from Friday Harbor,
Washington
, it has been documented as far south as Southern
California
. Other records are questionable because of the confusion regarding the development of dorsal verrucae, and glandular patterns in dorsal cirrophores.