Nooralia, San Martin, 2002

Genus Nooralia View in CoL San Martín, 2002

Nooralia San Martín, 2002: 333.

Type species. Nooralia bulgannabooyanga San Martín, 2002.

Diagnosis. Body small, short, with about 30 chaetigers. Surface of body smooth. Prostomium with 4 eyes and 3 antennae. Palps fused at bases. Two pairs of tentacular cirri. Antennae, tentacular cirri and dorsal cirri of chaetiger 1 long, cylindrical to spindle-shaped; remaining dorsal cirri short, lanceolate. Parapodia with dorsal simple capillary chaetae and compound chaetae with unidentate and bidentate short blades. Ventral simple chaetae apparently absent. Pharynx long, unarmed, with a crown of soft papillae on anterior rim. Proventricle small, difficult to see. Pygidium with 2 large anal cirri. Females brooding eggs dorsally, by means of compound notochaetae.

Remarks. The relationship of Nooralia to other members of the group is difficult to elucidate, because the genus displays features that differentiate it from all other Exogoninae genera, such as an indistinct proventricle and absence of a pharyngeal tooth. Characters such as the shape of the dorsal cirri, smooth dorsal surface and dorsal brooding of egg, as well as the shape of the aciculae of the single known species, suggest that it may be related to the genus Salvatoria. However, Salvatoria has palps fused by means of a dorsal membrane and a distinctly massive proventricle, which is long and large, and has a pharyngeal tooth. Furthermore, the compound chaetae of Nooralia are different to those of all other species of the genera included in the Exogoninae. The genus appears to have an isolated position in the Syllidae.