NEW RECORDS OF TRICHOBRANCHIDAE(ANNELIDA: POLYCHAETA)

FROM VENEZUELA

Oscar Díaz Díaz* and Ilde fon so Li ñe ro Ara na

Insti tu to Ocea no grá fi co de Ve ne zue la, Uni ver si dad de Orien te.Ce rro Co lo ra do, Edif. Inst. Ocea nogr. Ve ne zue la, Piso 2, Labs. 208-210.

Telf. 0293-4302129/4302239. E-mail: eco ben tos12@hot mail.com,li ne ro@hot mail.com

Ab stract. Forty-four spec i mens be long ing to Trichobranchidaewere col lected in dif fer ent sub strata from the north east ern coast ofVen e zuela. Samplings were made in six lo cal i ties at depths of0,5-2,0m, em ploy ing a corer, with a 14,8cm di am e ter, to col lect thesam ples on a muddy-sandy floor (Turpialito) with Thalassiatestudinum fields on bed bot toms (Toporo, Ensenada de Reyes,Varadero), and squares on rocky sub strata floors (Punta Colorada,Cubagua Is land and Guacarapo). Trichobranchus glacialis andTerebellides carmenensis were iden ti fied; both of which are newrecords for Ven e zue lan wa ters.

Key words: Tri cho bran chi dae, Te re be lli des car me nen sis, Tri cho -bran chus gla cia lis, Poly chae ta.

NUEVOS REGISTROS DE TRICHOBRANCHIDAE(ANNELIDA: POLYCHAETA) PARA VENEZUELA

Re su men. Cua ren ta y cua tro es pe cí me nes per te ne cien tes a la fa mi liaTri cho bran chi dae (Anne li da: Poly chae ta) se co lec ta ron en di fe ren testi pos de sub stra tos en la cos ta no ro rien tal de Ve ne zue la. Los mues -treos se rea li za ron en seis lo ca li da des a pro fun di da des com pren di das

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BO LE TÍN DEL CEN TRO DE IN VES TI GA CIO NES BIO LÓ GI CASVO LU MEN 37. NO. 3, 2003, PP. 182 - 190

UNI VER SI DAD DEL ZU LIA, MA RA CAI BO, VE NE ZUE LA

Re ci bi do: 27 Febrero 2003 / Acep ta do: 13 Diciembre 2003Re cei ved: 27 February 2003 / Accep ted: 13 December 2003

*Au tor para la co rres pon den cia

en tre 0,5 y 2,0 m, em pleán do se un nu clea dor de 14,8 cm de diá me tropara la co lec ta en fon dos fan go-are no sos (Tur pia li to) y con pra de rasde Tha las sia tes tu di num (To po ro, Ense na da de Re yes y Va ra de ro); ycua dra tas para el sub stra to ro co so (Pun ta Co lo ra da, Isla Cu ba gua yGua ca ra po). Se iden ti fi ca ron dos es pe cies Tri cho bran chus gla cia lis yTe re be lli des car me nen sis, am bas cons ti tu yen nue vos re gis tros paraVe ne zue la.

Pa la bras cla ve: Tri cho bran chi dae, Te re be lli des car me nen sis, Tri -cho bran chus gla cia lis, Poly chae ta.

INTRO DUC TION

Mem bers of Trichobranchidae fam ily are re lated closely toTerebellidae (Kritzler 1984). Their body is sep a rated in two re -gions; an te rior one with biramous parapodia and pos te rior one with only neuropodia (Day 1967). Seven gen era and near 30 spe cies hasbeen iden ti fied (Fauchald 1977, Wil liams 1984). Be tween these,Terebellides and Thrichobranchus gen era are most know mem bersof this fam ily. Terebellides stroemi Sars was con sid ered dur ing atime a clas sic ex am ple of a cos mo pol i tan spe cies and has been re -corded in all seas of the world, in a great va ri ety of depths and in allsub strata (Wil liams 1984). How ever, it was dif fi cult to con ceivethat this spe cies could de velop mech a nisms adaptative that al lowed to oc cupy so great hab i tats va ri ety. Wil liams (1984) andSolis-Weiss et al. (1991) car ried out stud ies in which they an a lyzed spec i mens iden ti fied as T. stroemi em ploy ing morphologic char ac -ter is tics not used pre vi ously, and they were able to sep a rate sev eralnew spe cies. Wil liams (1984) con cluded that T. stroemi is not acos mo pol i tan spe cies and that its dis tri bu tion is re stricted to NorthAt lan tic. Trichobranchus glacialis has been re corded from Gulf ofMex ico and it has been the only spe cie of the ge nus de scribed forGreat Ca rib bean. This pa per, a study of taxocene ofTrichobranchidae poly chaetes from north east ern coast of Ven e -zuela, is a con tri bu tion for the knowl edge of the biodiversity,mainly, polychaete-fauna.

Vol. 37, 2003] New Trichobranchidae from Venezuela 183

MA TE RI ALS AND METH ODS

This study was car ried out in six lo cal i ties, in shal low bot toms,of the north east ern coast of Ven e zuela (Fig. 1). The spec i mens fromEnsenada de Reyes, Varadero and Toporo (Bahía de Mochima),were col lected in sea grass beds of Thalassia testudinum, and fromTurpialito, in mud-sandy bot tom, us ing, for both spe cies, a PVCcorer of 14,8cm of di am e ter; each core was sieved in sieve of 1mm

184 Díaz and Liñero [Bol. Centro Invest. Biol.

10´

11º

50´

40´

30´

20´

10´

11º

50´

40´

30´

20´

40´50´64º10´20´

40´50´64º10´20´

VENEZUELA

Mar Caribe

Golfo de Cariaco

I. Cubagua

a

e

d

c

b

f

FIGURE 1. Study area: a) Ense na da de Re yes; b) Va ra de ro; c) To po ro;d) Tur pia li to; e) Gua ca ra po and f) Pun ta Co lo ra da.

open mesh. The spec i mens from Guacarapo were col lected on ar ti fi -cial sub strate, fol low ing Díaz and Liñero-Arana (2000) meth od ol -ogy, and those from Punta Colorada (Isla Cubagua) on rocky sub -strata, us ing square of 0,25m2. The spec i mens were pre served in 8%form al de hyde so lu tion in sea wa ter, car ried to lab o ra tory and sep a -rated in fam i lies. Af ter 48 hours were washed in fresh wa ter andfixed in al co hol 70% (eth a nol). For iden ti fi ca tions and de scrip tions,works of Day (1967), Wil liams (1984), Kritzler (1984), Solis Weisset al. (1991) was em ployed. Draw ing was made with lu cid cam eraadapted to mi cro scope ste reo scopic.

RE SULTS

Fourty-four spec i mens be long ing to the fam ilyTrichobranchidae were col lected. Two spe cies were iden ti fied,Trichobranchus glacialis (one spec i men) and Terebellidescarmenensis (43 spec i mens) both spe cies are new re cords for Ven e -zuela.

Ge nus Trichobranchus Malmgrem, 1866.

Spe cies type: Trichobranchus glacialis Malmgrem, 1866

Di ag no sis: Large ten tac u lar lobe with nu mer ous grooved ten ta -cles aris ing from the dor sal sur face. A pair of lat eral lobes on firstsegnment. Two or three pairs fil a men tous gills on seg ments 2-4.Notosetae cap il lar ies start ing from the sixth seg ment and neurosetaeon setiger I, tho racic long acicular hooks with toothed crests and ab -dom i nal avicular un ci ni.

Tri cho bran chus gla cia lis Malm grem, 1866.(Fig ure 2a-d)

Trichobranchus glacialis: Fauvel 1927, Day 1967,Hartmann-Schröder 1971, Kritzler 1984, Holthe 1986, Hernández-Alcántara and Solis-Weiss 1993.

Vol. 37, 2003] New Trichobranchidae from Venezuela 185

186 Díaz and Liñero [Bol. Centro Invest. Biol.

FIGURE 2. a-d) Tri cho bran chus gla cia lis: a) Ante rior re gion, in la te ral view, b) no to se tae, c) tho ra cic un ci ni, d) ab do mi nal un ci ni, in la te ralview, d´) same, in fron tal view; e-i) Te re be lli des car me nen sis:e) Ante rior re gion, in la te ral view, f) no to se tae, g) neu ro po dialre trac ti le hook, h) tho ra cic un ci ni, i) ab do mi nal un ci ni, in la te ralview, i´) same, in fron tal view.

De scrip tion: Spec i men in com plete, length 25mm, width 4mm.Ten tac u lar lobe large with frilly mar gin and nu mer ous ten ta cles aris -ing from its outer sur face. Prostomium with oc u lar spots and fused to the buccal seg ment, which bears a pair of hor i zon tal lat eral lobe anda ven tral keel. Three pairs of fil a men tous gills on seg ments 2-4(Fig. 2a). Fifhteen tho racic setigers, long-shafted neurosetae start ing from seg ment 6. Notosetae (Fig. 2b) with very nar row wings. Tho -racic neurosetae (Fig. 2c) with about 12 denticles above the ros trum.Ab dom i nal avicular un ci ni (Fig. 2d-d´) with three to four denticlesabove the main fang, in lat eral view, and one to three arcs ofdenticles in fron tal view, with for mula MF: ca10: 0-20.

Ma te rial examinated: 1 spec i men (LBEPTr-0001/1, PuntaColorada, Cubagua, Ven e zuela, 25/V/01).

Dis tri bu tion: Cos mo pol i tan (Kritzler 1984, Hernández-Alcántara and Solis-Weiss 1993).

Ge nus: Terebellides Sars, 1835.

Spe cies type: Terebellides stroemi Sars, 1835.

Di ag no sis: Ce phalic re gion with nu mer ous non re trac tile ten -tac u lar fil a ments. Tho rax with 17 or 18 seg ments; ab do men with nu -mer ous seg ments. Branchiae con sti tuted by four lobes lam i natedwith a com mon base. Tho racic setae of two types; ab dom i nal re gionwith avicular un ci ni.

Terebellides carmenensis Solis-Weiss et al. (1991).(Fig ures 2e-i)

Terebellides cf. klemani: Hernández Alcántara 1985

Terebellides carmenensis: Solis-Weiss et al. 1991.

Ma te rial ex am ined: Four spec i mens (LBEPTr-0002/4,Toporo-Bahía de Mochima, 27-II-02,); One spec i men(LEBPTr-0003/1, Man gle Quemao -Bahía de Mochima, 28-III-02,),two spec i mens (LEBPTr-0004/2, Toporo- Bahía de Mochima,

Vol. 37, 2003] New Trichobranchidae from Venezuela 187

28-III-02), 19 spec i men (LEBPTr-0005/19, Toporo- Bahía deMochima, 26-IV-02); one spec i mens (LEBPTr-0006/1, Toporo-Bahía de Mochima, 29-V-02); one spec i men (LEBPTr-0007/1,Varadero- Bahía de Mochima, 29-V-02); six spec i mens(LEBPTr-0008/6, Toporo- Bahía de Mochima, 28-VI-02); two spec -i mens (LEBPTr-0009/2, Varadero- Bahía de Mochima, 28-VI-02);three spec i mens (LEBPTr-0010/3, Toporo- Bahía de Mochima,25-VII-02); two spec i mens (LEBPTr-00011/2, Toporo- Bahía deMochima, 27-VIII-02); one spec i men (LEBPTr.-00012/1, Guaca -rapo, 22-V-1999); one spec i men (LEBPTr.-00013/1, Turpialito,18-V-1995).

De scrip tion: Body with 39 mm length and 6 mm of width. Agreat trans verse hump at level of the sev enth setiger (Fig. 2e),branchial lobes fused in al most their length, the in fe rior as wide asthe su pe ri ors, a pre vi ous pro jec tion con fers to the branchiae an ap -pear ance pentalobulated. Tho rax with 18 setigers. Setigers 1 and 2 in dor sal po si tion and lat eral lap pets more de vel oped that in the othersetigers. First notopodia with smaller setae and in smaller num berthat in the re main ing ones. Thin bilimbate setae (Fig. 2f). Sevenneuropodial re trac tile hooks (Fig. 2g) be gin ning from the sixthsetiger. Tho racic un ci ni (fig. 2h) with a main tooth, two sec ond aryand tiny denticles in dis tal end. Nu mer ous multidenticulated ab dom -i nal un ci ni (Fig. 2i).

Dis tri bu tion: Gulf of Mex ico and Ven e zuela.

DISCUSSION

T. carmenensis was re corded, for the first time, in the La goonof Terminos, Mex ico in shal low wa ters, as so ci ated to red man -grove (Rhizophora man gle) in mud-sandy sed i ments (Solis-Weisset al. 1991); ety mo logi cally obey to the area in which it was col -lected, South east of Isla del Carmen, Mex ico. Our spec i mens werecol lected as so ci ated to Thalassia testudinum in muddy sed i ment;this con sti tutes the first re cord for the South Ca rib bean and Ven e -zuela. T. carmenensis dif fers from T. angicomus, spe cies re corded

188 Díaz and Liñero [Bol. Centro Invest. Biol.

for Brazil, in the po si tion of the prom i nent dor sal humps, in thetoracic setigers num ber and the great num ber of ab dom i nal un ci nipres ent in each seg ments (Solis-Weiss et al. 1991).

On the other hand, T. glacialis has been re corded in a great va ri -ety of sub strate (mud, sand, and muddy-sand sub strates, be tweenstones, coral-rocks, shells and stick to al gae). Pigidium was not ob -served, but Fauvel (1927) point out anus ter mi nal with edge smooth.The unique spe cie, of this ge nus, in Great Ca rib bean, was re portedfor Kritzler (1984) in Gulf of Mex ico; this is a new re cord for Ven e -zuela.

AC KNOWL EDG MENTS

We wish to thanks to FONACIT Proyect-2000000946 by sup -port this re search, in the frame work of “Diversidad y variaciónespacio-tem po ral de la estructura de la macrofauna, meiofauna ymacroflora bénticas en praderas de Thalassia testudinum en la Bahíade Mochima, Estado Sucre” study and to Dr. Sergio Salazar-Vallejofor his con sid er ations.

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WIL LIAMS S. 1984. The sta tus of Terebellides stroemi (Polychaeta:Trichobranchidae) as a cos mo pol i tan spe cies, base on to world widemor pho log i cal sur vey, incluiding description of new spe cies:118-142. In P. Hutchings (eds.) Proc. First In ter na tional Poly chaetesCon fer ence, Syd ney, Pub. by. The Lin nean So ci ety New of SouthWales.

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