Bathydrilus Research Articles

A NEW SPECIES OF PHALLODRILUS AND RECORDS OF TWO OTHER MARINE TUBIFICIDAE (OLIGOCHAETA) FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST OF ISRAEL

ABSTRACT Three tubificid species, Phallodrilus duplex n.sp., Bathydrilus adriaticus (Hrabě) and Limnodribides agnes Hrabě, are reported from an intertidal vermetid reef in the eastern Mediterranean. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by some setal features: its somatic setae are arranged in bisetal bundles throughout the body, and its penial setae (3 per bundle) are obliquely directed towards the anterior of the worm. It is proposed that Limnodriloides virginiae Erseus, originally established as a subspecies of L. agnes, be regarded as a separate species.