New Phylogenetic Analysis of Paraprionospio Caullery (Polychaeta: Spionidae), with Description of a New Species from the Gulf of Mexico.

Abstract

Víctor H. Delgado-Blas and Luis F. Carrera-Parra (2018) A cladistic analysis of Paraprionospio was conducted based on the revision of some type materials and the original descriptions of some species. The phylogenetic reconstruction of Paraprionospio using parsimony analysis of 45 morphological characters yielded one most parsimonious tree (CI = 0.45, RI = 0.54). Herein, thirteen Paraprionospio species were considered to be valid, and one new species was described: Paraprionospio pinnata (Ehlers, 1901), P. inaequibranchia (Caullery, 1914), P. africana (Augener, 1918), P. alata (Moore, 1923), P. treadwelli (Hartman, 1951), P. lamellibranchia Hartman, 1974, P. coora Wilson, 1990, P. tamaii Delgado-Blas, 2004, P. yokoyamai Delgado-Blas, 2004, P. cordifolia Yokoyama, 2007, P. oceanensis Yokoyama, 2007, P. patiens Yokoyama, 2007, P. cristata Zhou, Yokoyama and Li, 2008, and P. dibranchiata sp. nov. This species is characterized by having two pairs of branchiae on chaetigers 1-2, the first pair pinnate with few pinnules, the second one cirriform; and with a long filament at the base of third notopodial lamella on chaetiger 3. Also, P. alata, P. treadwelli and P. inaequibranchia were redescribed based upon type material, and several morphological features were included to clarify the taxonomic status of P. treadwelli, P. tamaii and P. yokoyamai, which were previously considered synonyms of P. alata. A taxonomic key to all Paraprionospio species is provided.