Diopatra marocensis Paxton, Fadlaoui & Lechapt 1995

Diopatra marocensis Paxton, Fadlaoui & Lechapt, 1995

Figure 12; Table 1

Diopatra marocensis Paxton et al., 1995: 950, figs 1–2.— Rodrigues et al. 2009:609 –617. (Portugal).— Arias et al. 2010: 67 –68 (Spain).— Arias et al. 2013: 1533 –1542 (Spain).

Diopatra cuprea.—? Monro 1924:193 –199, figs 1–3 (Madeira). Not Bosc, 1802.

Material examined. Type material. Paratypes (10 specimens): (AM W.22182) Sidi Boulbra, Morocco, 30°55’N – 09°31’W, depth 25 m, 1990.

Non-type material. MNCN 16.01 /17820 (2 specimens), La Laja beach, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, 28°03’N – 15°25’W, intertidal, coll. A. Arias, 12 Jul 2012.

Type locality. Eastern North Atlantic, Morocco, off Sidi Boulbra, 28°03’N – 15°25’W, depth 25 m.

Diagnosis. Prostomium anteriorly rounded with two subulate frontal lips. Palps reaching chaetiger 3, antennae to chaetiger 10–12, ceratophores with six to nine rings, lateral processes absent; nuchal grooves crescentic; peristomial cirri present. Anterior four chaetigers with bidentate pseudocompound hooks with pointed hoods; single postchaetal lobes. Ventral parapodial lobes absent; ventral cirri on four to five chaetigers. Subacicular hooks from chaetiger 13–15; pectinate chaetae with 11–20 teeth; spiralled branchiae, first on chaetiger 4–5, last on chaetiger 30–40. Colour pattern usually present (Fig. 12 A), formed by brown pigmentation and irregular white dots; prostomium and styles of antennae and palps with irregular specks, ceratophores with pigmented rings; peristomium and anterior chaetigers with diffuse pigmentation covering most of segment, but leaving oval middorsal patch and two smaller lateral patches free, lateral patches becoming intersegmental by chaetiger 10; lateral intersegmental patches at base of parapodia; pattern fading from chaetiger 15-20. Tube typical of genus with inner secreted layer and outer layer of foreign particles consisting mainly of algae and vegetal material (Fig. 12 B), and protruding 3-4 cm above sediment (tube-cap) (Fig. 12 A, B).

Remarks. Monro (1924) reported juvenile and post-larval specimens in a muddy tube that were collected from Madeira as D. cuprea. In view of the fact that D. marocensis is the only known tube brooder of the genus in the area, we consider it most likely that the specimens belonged to this species.

Distribution. Eastern North Atlantic, from the Bay of Biscay to the Canary Islands and the Levantine basin of the Mediterranean Sea.