NEW CRYPTIC SPECIES OF TEREBRASABELLA (POLYCHAETA: SABELLIDAE) FROM AUSTRALIA
Murray, A. 1 & Rouse, G. W. 2
1Marine Invertebrates Section, Australian Museum, College St., Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
2School of Biological Sciences, A08, University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
Two new species of a new genus of Sabellidae, Terebrasabella (Fitzhugh & Rouse, in press) were found in cryptic marine habitats in Australia. One, Terebrasabella n. sp. 1, was found from preserved coral rock debris that had been collected on the outer Barrier Reef near Lizard Island, Queensland, in 1977; the other, Terebrasabella n. sp. 2, was found alive in burrows in and among spirorbin serpulid tubes on intertidal rocks in Tasmania in 1996. Both species were found in mucoid tubes, and brood their young in a manner similar to the other species of Terebrasabella. Descriptions of both species are given, with illustrations and light-microscope and Scanning Electron Microscope photographs. A cladistic analysis of the genus is also included and the evolution of chaetal morphology is discussed.