Additional description of the vent scale worm Thermopolynoe branchiata (Polychaeta: Polynoidae) from the North Fiji Basin

Abstract

Thermopolynoe Miura, 1994 is a monotypic genus in Lepidonotopodinae that comprises species endemic to chemosynthesis-based ecosystems. Here, we examined T. branchiata collected from the hydrothermal vents in the North Fiji Basin. For the first time in Thermopolynoe, we report sexual dimorphism detecting nephridial papillae on segments 11-13 in males, additionally describe the morphology on elytra with round to conical microtubercles on the surface, and distinguish presence of small neuropodial lobes on segments 3-26. We also revised couple of errors and ambiguities in the original description: incongruence between the description and figure and existence of individual variation in ratio of tentacular cirri and palps. In addition, three COI sequences of T. branchiata specimens from the North Fiji Basin were newly obtained and sequences divergence with other Lepidonotopodinae species were determined. These results would contribute to the taxonomy of polynoids in a chemosynthesis-based ecosystem.