Prionospio ( Prionospio ) saccifera Mackie & Hartley, 1990

Prionospio ( Prionospio) saccifera Mackie & Hartley, 1990 View in CoL

Prionospio saccifera Mackie & Hartley, 1990:366 View in CoL –371, figs. 3–4; Çinar & Ergen 1999:107 –109, fig. 2.

Material examined. ESFM –POL/05–266, 3 specimens, 9 September 2005, Iskenderun Bay, G2, 36º43΄19΄΄N, 36º09΄30΄΄E, 50 m, sandy mud; ESFM –POL/05–1384, 2 specimens, 17 September 2005, Iskenderun Bay, G8, 36º44΄22΄΄N, 34º39΄0 2΄΄E, 25 m, mud; ESFM –POL/05–1618, 2 specimens, 27 September 2005, Antalya Bay, G12, 36º50΄17΄΄N, 30º36΄31΄΄E, 10 m, sandy mud; ESFM –POL/05–1855, 3 specimens, 30 September 2005, Finike Bay, G18, 36º16΄31΄΄N, 30º10΄50΄΄E, 75 m, mud; ESFM –POL/05–2035, 1 specimen, 30 September 2005, Finike Bay, G19, 36º16΄0 6΄΄N, 30º11΄31΄΄E, 100 m, mud; ESFM –POL/05–3192, 10 specimens, 30 September 2005, Finike Bay, G17, 36º16΄48΄΄N, 30º10΄20ʺE, 50 m, mud; ESFM –POL/05–1534, 11 specimens, 6 October 2005, Fethiye Bay, G28, 36º37΄48΄΄N, 29º06΄30΄΄E, 10 m, mud; ESFM –POL/05–3193, 35 specimens, 6 October 2005, Fethiye Bay, G29, 36º39΄29΄΄N, 29º06΄0 2΄΄E, 25 m, sandy mud; ESFM –POL/05– 3194, 7 specimens, 6 October 2005, Fethiye Bay, G30, 36º39΄24΄΄N, 29º04΄44΄΄E, 50 m, sandy mud.

Diagnosis. Largest specimen incomplete, 1.01 mm wide, 12.5 mm long, with 41 chaetigers. Color in alcohol pale brown. Prostomium anteriorly rounded, lateral margins somewhat convex, extending as a long narrow caruncle to base of chaetiger 2; caruncle surrounded by nuchal organs on either side. Two pairs of black subdermal eyes; anterior pair set wider apart, usually represented by single eyespots; posterior pair often multioculate, cup-shaped to reniform, much larger than anterior pair. Four pairs of branchiae on chaetigers 2– 5; first pair with long digitiform pinnules on laterally; second and third pairs apinnate, equal in length, with dense lateral ciliation and sharply pointed tips; fourth pair apinnate, cirriform. Notopodial and neuropodial postchaetal lamellae on chaetiger 1 small, subtriangular. Notopodial postchaetal lamellae foliaceous, largest on chaetigers 3–4, thereafter becoming subtriangular then rounded. Notopodial postchaetal lamellae united, forming low dorsal crests across dorsum from chaetiger 6 to 15–17. Neuropodial lamellae large, rounded in branchial region, increasingly rounded thereafter. Interpapodial pouches from chaetiger 2 to 24–26. Ventral sabre chaeta first present on chaetigers 18–19, numbering one per fascicle. Multidentate hooded hooks first appearing on neuropodia of chaetigers 20–21 and on notopodia of chaetiger 38.

Remarks. Prionospio ( P.) saccifera was originally described from Hong Kong and the Gulf of Suez (Red Sea) by Mackie & Hartley (1990) and subsequently from the Turkish Mediterranean coast by Çinar & Ergen (1999). Our specimens agree well with the original and subsequent descriptions of the species.

Ecology. The highest population density (350 individuals.m -2) of this species was found on sandy mud substratum at 25 m depth at station G29 (Fethiye Bay).

Distribution. Eastern Pacific, Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea ( Çinar & Ergen 1999); 11– 85 m.