Species Micronephthys stammeri (Augener, 1932)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Nephtys stammeri Augener, H. 1932. Die Polychaeten und Hirudineen des Timavogebietes in der Adriatischen Karstregion. Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Ökologie und Geographie der Tiere 63: 657–680 [678].
• Nephtys inermis Augener, H. 1932. Die Polychaeten und Hirudineen des Timavogebietes in der Adriatischen Karstregion. Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Ökologie und Geographie der Tiere 63: 657–680 [679].

Generic Combinations

• Micronephthys stammeri (Augener, 1932). —
  Hartman, O. 1950. Goniadidae, Glyceridae and Nephtyidae. Allan Hancock Pacific Expeditions 15: 1-181 [131]

Introduction

The position of M. stammeri and its presence in Australia is uncertain: "Ravara et al. (2010b), redescribed M. stammeri from specimens collected from the type locality (Adriatic Sea) as the holotype has been lost (Banse 1959). They also synonymised M. maryae San Martin, 1982, with M. stammeri, and assigned Rainer & Kaly’s (1988) Australian specimens identified as M. maryae to M. stammeri, with doubts, due to Rainer & Kaly’s description of the Australian specimens having 14 longitudinal rows of subdistal pharyngeal papillae, instead of 20–22 rows which M. stammeri possesses. After examination of Rainer & Kaly’s specimens from Western Australia, it is impossible to confirm any pharyngeal features, as the three specimens are now badly damaged and the pharynx is missing from all. It is possible that the Western Australian specimens represent another species altogether, as Rainer & Kaly stated that the “proximal region” of the pharynx had “14 rows of subdistal papillae….up to 17 in each row”, a feature that is not consistent with M. stammeri, or with the Lizard Island specimens. The inclusion of M. cf. stammeri in the key to Australian Nephtyidae in Dixon-Bridges et al. (2014, p. 515) was based on Ravara’s synonymy of M. maryae with M. stammeri, and even though the specimens are no longer identifiable, the differences between M. stammeri and the description of Rainer & Kaly’s specimens alone should have discounted the presence of M. stammeri in Australia. However, the specimens from Lizard Island are consistent with the redescription of M. stammeri by Ravara et al. (2010b), except that they are larger, and lyrate chaetae are present from chaetiger 4 rather than 3, so we are tentatively assigning them to this species. As there is a valid uncertainty whether Rainer & Kaly’s specimens from Western Australia are M. stammeri, or may represent another species altogether, we report this species for the first time from Australia, at Lizard Island. With such a geographically disjunct distribution reported for Micronephthys stammeri, it may be, however, that it represents a suite of cryptic species, the identity of which may only be resolved by the use of genetic analysis of “populations” in conjunction with morphological data." (Murray et al. 2015)

Distribution

States

Queensland

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IMCRA

Northeast Shelf Transition (41)

General References

Murray, A., Wong, E. & Hutchings, P. 2015. Nephtyidae (Annelida: Phyllodocida) of Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Zootaxa 4019: 414-436 [431]

History of changes