| Abarenicola affinis (Ashworth, 1903). Family Arenicolidae | ||||
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Abarenicola-affinis [Click photo for picture page] 
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| Habitat: | Intertidal. Soft shore. Enclosed harbours only. Fine sand Infaunal. Depth range: 0-1 (m). Salinity regime: Harbour-like variation. Microhabitat: Deep burrows usually at or beyond spade depth Tube: None. Burrow mucus-lined | |||
| Occurrence: | Uncommon but may have localised colonies. Density: 1-10 (m2).
Distribution in NZ: North, South and Stewart Islands. | |||
| Feeding guild: | Subsurface deposit-feeding/herbivore. | |||
| Diagnosis: | Genus Abarenicola in Family Arenicolidae.
Large Abarenicola species with 19 chaetigers, with branched gills beginning as a small pair on chaetiger seven. Parapodial annuli on the first three setigers enlarged and conspicuous. Oesophageal caeca 1(large)+6 to 1+9. Colour: Dark brown body. Maximum size: 350 mm total length, 30 mm body width. |
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| Notable aspect: | Large size. Surface castings. | |||
| Comparisons: | Differs from A. devia in having more caeca, in having annuli of first three chaetigers enlarged, (in A. devia the parapodial annuli are all similar sized ). In life darker and less colorful than A. devia | |||
| Taxonomy: | Same as A. affinis affinis, but Wells' NZ 'affinis affinis' and 'assimilis devia' subspecies are here given species rank | |||
| Distribution: | Endemic. | |||
| Biology: | Similar to the much researched Arenicola marina of Europe. Can be abundant in organically-enriched sands | |||
| Best References: | Biology: No recommendation. Taxonomy: Wells (1963) The lugworms of the southern cold temperate zone (Arenicolidae, Polychaeta). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 140:121-159. | |||
| More information: |
Synonyms, NZ records | Original figures | Original description details | |
| Genus diagnosis | More pictures | Further references (biology, etc) | Family Arenicolidae | |
| Internet sources: |
GOOGLE Search | AlltheWeb Search | CISTI | CBIF BiOSC Gateway | GOBASE Molecular | GenBank | Genus only in GenBank | | |||
| Genus only in Ubio Taxonomic Name Server | PubMed | Scirus | Zoological Record | | ||||
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