Abstract
Knowledge about the taxonomy and distribution of the monogeneric polychaete family Longosomatidae Hartman, 1944 is limited in all parts of the world. A new species of the genus Heterospio Ehlers, 1874 (Annelida, Longosomatidae) is described from the Indian Ocean. Heterospio indica sp. nov. is mainly characterised by the conspicuous flattening of the distal half of capillary chaetae located in anterior elongated segments. Several body characters of high taxonomic relevance in the genus are examined under the SEM and discussed. The 18S SSU rDNA and COI genes were sequenced and represent the first sequencing of a species of Heterospio , and the sequences have been deposited in GenBank.
Highlights
The study of specimens of H. indica sp. nov., allowed us to amend some comments given by Parapar et al (2014)
Examination of specimens of H. indica sp. nov. has clearly demonstrated that both palps and nuchal organs are present
As was previously proposed by Parapar et al (2014), we consider that the number of short anterior segments and the relative length of the first elongated segments are two key characters in longosomatid taxonomy; they should be evaluated carefully because some variation was observed
Summary
The family Longosomatidae Hartman, 1944 comprises a single genus, Heterospio Ehlers, 1874, that includes eight described species, namely H. longissima Ehlers, 1874, H. longissima Ehlers sensu Hartman 1965, H. catalinensis Hartman, 1944, H. mediterranea Laubier, Picard & Ramos, 1973, H. reducta Laubier, Picard & Ramos, 1973, H. peruana Borowski, 1994, H. sinica Wu & Chen, 1996 and H. angolana Bochert & Zettler, 2009 (see Parapar et al 2014), as well as two described, but still
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