A new eyeless species of Nereis (Annelida, Nereididae) from deep-sea sediments of the northern South China Sea.

ABSTRACT: A variety of nereidid species have been reported from the South China Sea, although little is known about the deep-sea species in this area. Recently, two specimens belonging to a novel nereidid polychaete were collected from a sedimentary habitat during an environmental survey to a deep-sea basin where cold seeps occur. This new species, Nereistricirrata sp. nov., is described herein, based on morphological and molecular analyses. The most noteworthy feature is the absence of eyes on the prostomium; it can be distinguished from other eyeless Nereis species by the arrangement of conical paragnaths on the pharynx, the nature of homogomph falcigers and the shape of notopodial lobes in posterior chaetigers. The reconstructed phylogenetic tree, using concatenated sequences

SUBMITTER: Lin JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9836637 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature