Berkeleyia Hartman, 1971 Emended

Genus Berkeleyia Hartman, 1971 Emended

Type species: Berkeleyia profunda Hartman, 1971, Mozambique Basin, 4886–5069 m.

Diagnosis. Prostomium pointed, conical; peristomium with one achaetous ring. Branchiae from posterior thoracic or abdominal segments. Thoracic noto- and neuropodia with one postsetal lobe, sometimes absent or inconspicuous on anteriormost setigers; subpodial lobes absent; abdominal setigers with simple noto- and neuropodia; neuropodia with or without ventral cirrus; interramal cirri absent. Thoracic noto- and neurosetae all capillaries. Abdominal notosetae include capillaries; pointed spines present or absent; furcate setae present or absent; neuropodia with capillaries and protruding acicular spines; or only spines.

Remarks. The genus Berkeleyia was established by Hartman (1971) for a single species, B. profunda from abyssal depths in the Mozambique Basin. Berkeleyia is closely related to Leitoscoloplos in having only camerated capillaries in thoracic neuropodia. The two genera differ markedly, however, in that species of Berkeleyi a have well-developed acicular spines protruding from abdominal neuropodia and sometimes in abdominal notopodia. Five species of Berkeleyia are now known, all from the Southern Hemisphere and all but one are from abyssal depths; four new species have been encountered as part the present study:

B. profunda Hartman, 1971. Mozambique Basin, 4866–5069 m.

B. heroae, n. sp. South America, Staten Island, off Tierra del Fuego, intertidal to shallow subtidal. (See below).

B. abyssala n. sp. Antarctic seas, Drake Passage and Weddell Sea, 3111–4176 m. (See below).

B. weddellia n. sp. Antarctic sea, Weddell Sea, 2164 m. (See below).

B. hadala n. sp. Peru-Chile Trench, 3086–6143 m (See below).

Berkeleyia heroae n. sp. differs from the four deep-water species in having the abdominal neuropodial spines with a distinctly bifurcated or notched tip, but otherwise all four of the new species and the type-species from the Mozambique Basin form a well-defined group within the Orbiniidae. An additional new deep-water species has been discovered on a seamount in the Atlantic Ocean and will be described separately.