| Marphysa depressa (Schmarda, 1861). Family Eunicidae | ||||
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Marphysa depressa dorsal head [Click photo for picture page] 
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| Habitat: | Intertidal. Rocky shore. Bays and sheltered beaches. Infaunal. Epifaunal. Depth range: 0-2 (m). Salinity regime: Harbour-like variation. Microhabitat: Muddy crevices. Tube: None, but galleries (burrow track) in sediment. | |||
| Occurrence: | Common. Density: 400 (m2).
Distribution in NZ: New Zealand wide. | |||
| Feeding guild: | Surface omnivore. | |||
| Diagnosis: | Genus Marphysa in Family Eunicidae.
Marphysawith branchiae beginning from chaetiger 25 or further back, with 1 to 4 filaments. Body section flattened dorso-ventrally after the first few segments. Pale subacicular hooks in post body have distinctly bidentate tips with small hood. Supra-acicular chaetae are capillaries with some delicate inconspicuous comb-tipped chaetae present. Subacicular chaetae are compound capillaries and falcigers. Colour: Grey body with red branchiae. Maximum size: 400 mm total length, 7 mm body width. |
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| Notable aspect: | Presence of compound capillaries. | |||
| Comparisons: | Other shore Marphysa such as M. capensis may appear quite similar and examination of chaetal types will be needed to distinguish them. | |||
| Taxonomy: | The purported four valid New Zealand Marphysa species need to be reviewed again. | |||
| Distribution: | Endemic. Also reported for South Africa | |||
| Biology: | Little is known. Note that Morton & Miller 1968 may be including more than one species in their comments using this name. | |||
| Best References: | Biology: Morton and Miller (1968) The New Zealand sea shore.. Collins, Lond. Auckland (2nd ed. 1973 pagination unchanged) :653 Taxonomy: Knox and Green (1972) The Polychaetes of New Zealand Part 4. Eunicidae. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 2:459-470. | |||
| More information: |
Synonyms, NZ records | Original figures | Original description details | |
| Genus diagnosis | More pictures | Further references (biology, etc) | Family Eunicidae | |
| 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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