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Nothria nikitai, a new species of bristle worms (Annelida, Onuphidae) from the Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean

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Abstract

A new species of Nothria is described from a subtidal locality in the Gulf of Aden. Nothria nikitai sp. n. represents the second species of the genus reported from the Indian Ocean, bringing the total number of Nothria species described to 20. The new species belongs to a group of species with the second pair of parapodia bearing pseudocompound falcigers only. It can be distinguished from its congeners by the early presence of branchiae (from chaetiger 6), which become very large and foliose in the middle part of the body. Presumably, such extreme development of branchiae has evolved as an adaptation to low oxygen conditions of the area. Ontogenetic variation in chaetal morphology and composition in the first three pairs of parapodia are described, allowing recognition of the smallest size of N. nikitai with the definitive set of characters.

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Nikita Kucheruk for making the material available for the description and for inspiring me to study onuphid polychaetes. I would like to thank Egil Severin Erichsen and Katrine Kongshavn for assistance with SEM. Financial support for this study was provided by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant 13-04-01332), a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship (Project PRODEEP) and the Research Council of Norway (top-up financing of Marie Curie Fellows).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural History Collections, University Museum of Bergen, Allégaten 41, 5020, Bergen, Norway

    Nataliya Budaeva

  2. P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovsky pr. 36, 117997, Moscow, Russia

    Nataliya Budaeva

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  1. Nataliya Budaeva
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Correspondence to Nataliya Budaeva.

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Budaeva, N. Nothria nikitai, a new species of bristle worms (Annelida, Onuphidae) from the Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean. Mar Biodiv 45, 169–174 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-014-0244-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-014-0244-1

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