EUNICIDAE (POLYCHAETA) FROM THE E BRAZILIAN COAST
Attolini, F. da S. 1; Zanol, J. 2 & Paiva, P. C. de2
1Instituto Oceanográfico - Universidade de São Paulo, Praça do Oceanográfico 191, 05508-900, São Paulo-SP, Brazil
2Departamento de Zoologia - Instituto de Biologia - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CCS, Bloco A, Ilha do Fundão, 21941-590, Rio de Janeiro,RJ, Brazil
The E Brazilian polychaete fauna has been one of the poorest known in the Western Atlantic. This study analyzes the Eunicidae obtained by dredgings made by oceanographic vessels and directly by scuba diving in this area. Bottoms were composed mainly of calcareous algae, coral reefs and biodetritic gravels. A total of 24 species were found, 14 from the genus Eunice, 4 Marphysa, 1 Lysidice, 1 Nematonereis, 1 Palola, 1 Paramarphysa and 1 Lysibranchia. The geographic distribution of many species and one genus, Lysibranchia is extended. The species composition showed a strong affinity to the Tropical (= Caribbean) Province and, to a lesser extent, to the Paulista Province. The analysis of a great number of specimens showed a large variability in many characteristics within species, e.g. the degree of branchiae or cirrus development, the first appearance of branchiae and maxillae morphology. These results would indicate that a rigorous analysis is needed to verify the validity of such characters in the group taxonomy. In spite of the importance of the family - both in biomass and number of individuals in the area studied - the number of species was considered low when compared to other corallinean areas such as the Caribbean waters.