A new species of the Spirobranchuskraussii complex, S.akitsushima (Annelida, Polychaeta, Serpulidae), from the rocky intertidal zone of Japan

Nishi E 1 , Abe H 2 , Tanaka K 3 , Jimi N 4 , Kupriyanova EK 5

Affiliations 

  • 1 College of Education, Yokohama National University, Hodogaya, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan Yokohama National University Yokohama Japan
  • 2 Department of Biology, Center for Liberal Arts & Sciences, Iwate Medical University, Idaidori 1-1-1, Yahaba, Shiwa-gun, Iwate 028-3694, Japan Iwate Medical University Yahaba Japan
  • 3 Department of Marine Biology, School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai University, 3-20-1, Orido, Shimizu, Shizuoka-shi, Shizuoka 424-8610, Japan Tokai University Shimizu Japan
  • 4 Sugashima Marine Biological Laboratory, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, 429-63 Sugashima, Toba, Mie 517-0004, Japan Nagoya University Toba Japan
  • 5 Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 1 William Street, Sydney 2010 NSW, Australia Australian Museum Sydney Australia
Zookeys, 2022;1100:1-28.
PMID: 36760394 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1100.79569

Abstract

A new species of Spirobranchus (Annelida: Serpulidae) is described based on specimens collected at the coastal Shonan area of Sagami Bay and the adjacent areas of Honshu, Japan. Spirobranchusakitsushima sp. nov. forms large aggregations in the intertidal rocky zone of warm-temperate Japanese shores. This species was referred to as Pomatoleioskraussii (Baird, 1864) until the monotypic genus Pomatoleios was synonymized with Spirobranchus. This new species is formally described based on morphologically distinct Japanese specimens with supporting DNA sequence data. The calcareous opercular endplate of Spirobranchusakitsushima sp. nov. lacks a distinct talon, but some specimens have a slight rounded swelling on the endplate underside, while in other species of the S.kraussii complex a talon is present, usually extended, and with bulges. We examined sub-fossil tube aggregations of the new species and suggest that such aggregation stranded ashore is a good indicator of vertical land movements (uplift and subsidence) resulting from past events, such as earthquakes, in Honshu, Japan.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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