Description of a new species of Namalycastis (Annelida: Nereididae: Namanereidinae) from the Brazilian coast with a phylogeny of the genus

The subfamily Namanereidinae represents one of the few groups of Polychaeta strongly adapted to low salinity and freshwater. Recently, some new species of the subfamily have been described, but no new phylogenetic analyses for the group have been undertaken since 1999. Here, we describe a new specie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inZootaxa Vol. 4144; no. 4; p. 499
Main Authors Alves, Paulo Ricardo, Santos, Cinthya Simone Gomes
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New Zealand 29.07.2016
Subjects
Animals
Brazil
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
Phylogeny
Polychaeta - classification
Polychaeta - genetics
Polychaeta - physiology
Polychaeta - ultrastructure
Species Specificity
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Summary:The subfamily Namanereidinae represents one of the few groups of Polychaeta strongly adapted to low salinity and freshwater. Recently, some new species of the subfamily have been described, but no new phylogenetic analyses for the group have been undertaken since 1999. Here, we describe a new species of Namanereidinae, Namalycastis caetensis sp. nov., and provide a morphology-based phylogenetic analysis of the genus Namalycastis with the aim of assessing the evolutionary relationships for this new species. The designation of this new species is supported by the presence of elongated falcigers (also known as pseudospinigers, an unusual character in the genus), lack of an anterior cleft in the prostomium, slightly indistinct cirrophores, four pairs of tentacular cirri, and subconical acicular ligulae. Our results suggest that Namalycastis caetensis is closely related to N. geayi and N. fauveli. The existence of poorly-characterized species, from a morphological and molecular point of view, still limits our understanding of Namanereidinae relationships.
ISSN:1175-5334
DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.4144.4.3