Plantae

Genus Zverlinum Averincev, 1972 reinstated

Zverlinum Averincev, 1972: 106 (diagn., type species).

Phyllodoce (Zverlinum) – Pleijel 1993b: 298 (list of species).

TYPE SPECIES. — Austrophyllum monroi Hartman, 1964, by original designation.

DIAGNOSIS. — Phyllodocids with prostomium with two oblong tapered lateral antennae, median antenna often reduced to a nuchal papilla. Four pairs of oblong tapered tentacular cirri. Dorsal cirrophore with acicula; supracicular lobe digitate; ventral cirri tapered, not medially widened, sharp. Pharynx with two regions, basal region with irregularly distributed, multi-denticulate papillae, without smooth areas, distal region with round irregular tubercles.

REMARKS

Pleijel (1993b) indicated in the abstract that the type species, Austrophyllum monroi Hartman, 1964 was a junior synonym of Phyllodoce bulbosa Wesenberg-Lund, 1962, but no further details were incorporated in the publication. Austrophyllym monroi Hartman, 1964 was named after one specimen from South Georgia that Monro (1930: 74) had identified as Phyllodoce longipes Kinberg, 1865, and P. bulbosa was described from Central Chile.However, besides their type localities, there are certain morphological differences indicated in the original illustrations that would render such synonymy doubtful. For example, in A. monroi the prostomium is longer than wide, whereas it is wider than long in P.bulbosa, although this might be attributed to certain distortion due to pharynx eversion. The denticulate pharyngeal papillae illustrated for A. monroi were neither described, nor confirmed for P. bulbosa. Further, mid-body parapodia also differ. In A. monroi the dorsal cirri are longer than wide and supracicular lobes are very long, whereas in P. bulbosa cirri are as long as wide, and supracicular lobes are not so markedly projected. These differences might be explained because the parapodia were taken from different body regions. In any case, a re-examination of type or topotype material is required to corroborate the synonymy. Phyllodoce micrognatha de Oliveira, Magalhães & Lana, 2021 also belongs in Zverlinum.