New species of the genus Spio (Annelida, Spionidae) from the southern and western coasts of Korea.

Karin Meißner,Geon Hyeok Lee,Seong Myeong Yoon,Gi-Sik Min

doi:10.3897/zookeys.1070.73847

Abstract

A new spionid polychaete, Spiopigmentatasp. nov., is described from the southern and western coasts of Korea. This new species differs from its congeners by the combination of the following morphological characteristics: the presence of orange-brown pigmentation on the anterior part of the prostomium, black pigmentation on the peristomium and along the body, U-shaped nuchal organs, a comparatively long extension of metameric dorsal ciliated organs, three pairs of white dots per chaetiger, two to three posterior abranchiate chaetigers, and the presence of tridentate neuropodial hooded hooks. The partial 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and nuclear 18S rDNA sequences of the new species and Spio sp. 2 reported by Abe and Sato-Okoshi (2021) from Japan showed high similarity, indicating that these two specimens belong to the same species. A detailed description and illustrations of the new species, together with molecular information, are provided.

Highlights

Spio Fabricius, 1785 is one of the most speciose genera of Spionidae Grube, 1850
They examined traditional morphological characteristics such as the shape of the anterior margin of the prostomium, length of the first branchiae, and the beginning, shape, and number of hooded hooks. They examined additional diagnostic characteristics including the pigmentation of the body, shape of nuchal organs, extension of dorsal ciliated organs, the number and arrangement of white dots, shape of notopodial postchaetal lamellae in the posteriormost region of the body, and the number of posterior abranchiate chaetigers
The morphological examination in this study showed that the uppermost tooth in the tridentate hooks is very inconspicuous

Summary

Introduction

Spio Fabricius, 1785 is one of the most speciose genera of Spionidae Grube, 1850. It currently comprises 37 species occurring all over the world (Read and Fauchald 2021). The confusion regarding the taxonomy of this species has been considerable, and it was evident that the identity of S. filicornis needed to be stabilized Against this background, a neotype of the species from the type locality in Greenland was designated by Meißner et al (2011), with a detailed redescription based on traditional characteristics and additional diagnostic characteristics that had been rarely or only briefly described in previous publications. A neotype of the species from the type locality in Greenland was designated by Meißner et al (2011), with a detailed redescription based on traditional characteristics and additional diagnostic characteristics that had been rarely or only briefly described in previous publications They examined traditional morphological characteristics such as the shape of the anterior margin of the prostomium, length of the first branchiae, and the beginning, shape, and number of hooded hooks. The re-examination of Spio specimens that have been identified as S. filicornis is possible by additional morphological and molecular analyses, and the species can no longer be regarded as a species of worldwide distribution without scientific proof (Meißner et al 2011)

Methods

Results

Conclusion