| NIWA Guide to Polychaeta | Shore polychaetes | Pick shore group | Pick shore family | Shell polychaetes |
| Perinereis amblyodonta | Nereididae (nereidid/rag worm)
Phyllodocida (Annelida: Polychaeta) |
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| Perinereis amblyodonta (Schmarda, 1861). Family Nereididae | ||||
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Perinereis amblyodonta mature female [Click photo for picture page] | ||||
| Habitat: | Intertidal. Rocky shore. Open beaches. Epifaunal. Depth range: 0-4 (m). Salinity regime: Harbour-like variation. Microhabitat: Rock crevices. Tube: None. | |||
| Occurrence: | Common to abundant. Density: 100 (m2).
Distribution in NZ: New Zealand wide | |||
| Feeding guild: | Surface omnivore. | |||
| Diagnosis: | Genus Perinereis in Family Nereididae.
Proboscis area VI (top lateral, nearest to head) paragnath a single curved bar. Area V (top middle, nearest to head) with 5 large paragnaths; a median one with a transverse pair on either side behind. Area I with 2-4 large paragnaths in a longitudinal line. Superior notopodial ligule greatly enlarged in posterior body. Colour: Anterior dorsal dark green, becoming more brownish posteriorly with pale parapodial bases. Pale ventral. Maximum size: 300 mm total length, 10 mm body width. |
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| Notable aspect: | Large size. Area V with 5 paragnaths only (not 3 or 6), and distinctively placed. | |||
| Comparisons: | Similar to P. pseudocamiguina and an undescribed Perinereis sp (P. sp. A). Several green-coloured Perinereis co-occur in the intertidal, but P. ambylodonta is the largest | |||
| Taxonomy: | Schmarda described this species originally from Sydney, Australia. Perinereis barbara Hutchings, Reid & Wilson 1991 is claimed as a distinct species. | |||
| Distribution: | Australia, New Zealand | |||
| Biology: | Large upper shore nereid in near-dry crevices. Metamorphoses and swarms in summer, January to March, but heteronereid surprisingly rarely collected. Little is known of the biology of this common species. | |||
| Best References: | Biology: Morton and Miller (1968) The New Zealand sea shore.. Collins, Lond. Auckland (2nd ed. 1973 pagination unchanged) :653 Taxonomy: Hutchings, Reid, and Wilson (1991) Perinereis from Australia (Polychaeta, Nereididae) from Australia, with redescriptions of six additional species.. Records of the Australian Museum 43: 241-274. | |||
| More information: |
Synonyms, NZ records | Original figures | Original description details | |
| Genus diagnosis | More pictures | Further references (biology, etc) | Family Nereididae | |
| 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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The information provided by this page and by the pages of the "more information" links is held in a structured form for rapid and frequent updating and improvement. Descriptive text is compiled from a number of database fields, some of which may occasionally be empty. Data last edited 4/07/2004, and page last generated by G. Read, 27/07/2004 (dd/mm/yy) |