Corresponding author: Sarah Faulwetter (
Academic editor: C. Glasby
Examination of polychaete specimens from Haifa Bay (Israel, eastern Mediterranean Sea) revealed several individuals exhibiting morphological characteristics similar to
The polychaete genus
Specimens were collected on 11 Oct. 2009 in Haifa Bay, (Israel, Eastern Mediterranean Sea) from fine to medium sands in shallow waters (10 m). Sediment samples were taken with a Van-Veen grab (KAHLSICO, model WA265/SS214) 32×35 cm, volume 20 l, penetration 20 cm. The sediment was preserved in buffered formalin 10% for 3–7 days, then sieved through a 250 µm mesh sieve and subsequently stored in 70% ethanol. Specimens were examined under an Olympus SZx12 stereomicroscope and an Olympus BX50 microscope. Illustrations in pencil were made by means of a drawing tube, subsequently scanned, imported into a graphic program (GIMP), re-drawn and saved as a vector graphic. Three specimens selected for obtaining Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images were dehydrated, critical point dried (Bal-Tec CPD 030), sputter-coated with gold (Bal-Tec SCD 050) and examined under a JEOL JSM-6390LV at the Department of Biology, University of Crete. Specimens are deposited in the invertebrate collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C., USA (USNM) and in the Tel Aviv University Zoological Museum, Israel (TAU).
A total of 30 individuals belonging to three species (
Body length was measured excluding antennae, anal cirri and palps. Falciger blade lengths were measured from point of insertion into shaft to distal tip. Falciger blade lengths could not always be measured on the same chaetiger in all animals if blades were broken. Instead, measurements were made in predefined body regions (anterior: first 1–5 chaetigers; posterior: last 5–7 chaetigers; midbody: in between). Three individuals of
Summary statistics (mean, minimum, maximum, standard deviation, coefficient of variation and range of values) were calculated for each species (measurements and calculations available in online supplementary material:
To take the different data types (numerical, categorical, binary) into account, Gower’s similarity coefficient (
Multivariate statistical analyses were performed with PRIMER V6, correlation of the Principal Component Scores were calculated with the R package (R package version 2.10;
The description of the new taxon was prepared in a Virtual Research Environment (Scratchpads) allowing for rapid and simultaneous publication of the results in print as well as electronically in a semantically enhanced form (
Holotype (USNM 1160540) ALA-IL-7, Haifa Bay, 10.5 m depth. Label: “
Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Levantine Basin, Israel, Haifa Bay (
Holotype, entire animal, with 25 chaetigers, length 1.9 mm with palps but without anal cirri; width at sixth chaetiger 250 µm without parapodia, 300 µm with parapodia. Body small, slender, widest at level of proventricle (
Derived from the type locality (Levantine Basin), levantina being a neo-Latin adjective meaning “pertaining to the region where the sun raises”; feminine declination in accordance with the genus name (Syllis was a river nymph in the greek mythology and thus female).
Israeli Coast (Levantine Basin, Eastern Mediterranean Sea).
Fine to medium sands.
The results of the Principal Component Analysis show that the first principal component (PC1) account for 77.4% of the variability, the second (PC2) for 16.4% and the remaining 3 PCs for 5.1% (eigenvector values available at
The PCA plot of the first two components show a discrimination of species into three groups, with individuals of
PCA plot.
MDS plot.
The PERMANOVA analysis results in a
The genus
The morphometric analysis conducted in this study support the hypothesis of several morphologically very similar species co-existing in the Mediterranean. The individuals of
However, when tested by strict statistical criteria, the hypothesis of different co-existing species is significantly supported, and based on their meristic characters the species show significant differences. The results of the current study suggest that
The three species
1 | Dorsal cirri on chaetiger 2 present | 2 |
– | Dorsal cirri on chaetiger 2 absent | 4 |
2 | Papillae on dorsum absent | |
– | Papillae on dorsum present | 3 |
3 | Parapodial glands absent | |
– | Parapodial glands with fibrillar material | |
4 | Parapodial glands present | 5 |
– | Parapodial glands absent | 15 |
5 | Parapodial glands with fibrillar material | 6 |
– | Parapodial glands with granular material | 12 |
6 | All antennae in line | |
– | Median antenna inserted more posteriorly than lateral ones | 7 |
7 | Dorsal cirri shorter than parapodial lobes, at least in anterior chaetigers | 8 |
– | Dorsal cirri longer than parapodial lobes | 9 |
8 | Blades of falcigers strongly serrated, short (<10µm); shafts with strong spines | |
– | Blades of falcigers with serration only anteriorly and dorsalmost; blades with slight dorso-ventral gradation but always longer than 10µm; shafts smooth | |
9 | Blades of falcigers without marked dorso-ventral gradation in length | |
– | Blades of dorsalmost falcigers at least 1.5 times the length of ventral ones | 10 |
10 | Blades of posterior dorsal compound falcigers smooth to finely serrated | |
– | Blades of posterior dorsal compound falcigers strongly serrated (spinules of almost same length as the subdistal spine) | 11 |
11 | Blades of anterior dorsal compound falcigers at least twice as long as ventral ones; anteroposterior gradation of blade length; blades of both dorsal and ventral compound chaetae with a subdistal spine | |
– | Blades of anterior dorsal compound falcigers less than twice as long as ventral ones; no anteroposterior gradation of blade length; blades of only dorsal compound chaetae with a subdistal spine | |
12 | Blades of dorsalmost falcigers long (>30µm), at least twice as long as ventral ones | |
– | Blades of falcigers short (<15µm), with only slight dorso-ventral gradation | 13 |
13 | Dorsal cirri clearly longer than parapodial lobes | |
– | Dorsal cirri as long as or shorter than parapodial lobe | 14 |
14 | Antennae bulbous with small tip, shorter than prostomium; dorsal simple chaetae smooth; anterior parapodia with two aciculae, one straight, one with tip bent at right angle | |
– | Antennae pyriform, as long as prostomium, dorsal simple chaetae serrated, all parapodia with one acicula | |
15 | All aciculae straight | 16 |
– | Tip of some aciculae bent at right angle | 17 |
16 | Dorsal cirri with conspicious papilla, giving cirri a bifid appearance | |
– | Doral cirri without papilla | |
17 | All antennae in line | |
– | Median antenna inserted more posteriorly than lateral ones | 18 |
18 | Anterior parapodia with two aciculae, one straight, one with tip bent at right angle; pharyngeal glands on chaetiger 1 present | |
– | All parapodia with one acicula only; pharyngeal glands on chaetiger 1 absent |
The authors kindly acknowledge assistance from the following colleagues: Dr Nomiki Simboura (HCMR, Anavyssos) and Dr Miltiadis Kitsos (Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki) for loans of comparative material of
The Scratchpads version of this publication is available at:
Character matrices for specimens used in the morphological analysis are available at:
Summary statistics for the species are available at:
Results of the morphometric analysis are available at:
Illustrations and graphs of the statistical analysis are available at: