Paradiopatra ehlersi McIntosh 1885

Paradiopatra ehlersi (McIntosh, 1885)

Nothria ehlersi McIntosh, 1885: 327 –330, pl. 26A, figs. 5–7; pl. 35A, fig. 2; pl. 42, figs.1–3. Paradiopatra ehlersi.— Budaeva & Fauchald 2011: 357 –362, figs. 25–28, table 6. Paradiopatra paucibranchis.— Kirkegaard 1994: 475.

Material examined. Galathea sta. 550, NE of Sydney, 31º27’S 153º33’E, 4530 m, ST200: 2 specimens (Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Denmark).

Diagnosis. Ovoid frontal lips; ceratophores without lateral projections; peristomial cirri present; first three pairs of parapodia with pseudocompound bidentate, rarely uni- and tridentate, falcigers with moderately long pointed hoods; subacicular hooks subequal, starting from chaetiger 9 (rarely chaetigers 10–11); branchiae pectinate with up to 2–6 filaments, starting from chaetigers 16–17.

Remarks. Two specimens collected by the Galathea expedition NE of Sydney in 1951 and reported by Kirkegaard (1994) as P. paucibranchis were re-examined by one of us during a previous study and referred to P. ehlersi (Budaeva & Fauchald 2011). The better preserved specimen was an anterior fragment consisting of 27 chaetigers, with a width of 1.5 mm (at chaetiger 10 excluding parapodia). Although it was a relatively small specimen of P. e h l e r s i, its branchiae had maximally three filaments. The re-examination confirmed the synonymy of P. paucibranchis with P. ehlersi. We did not encounter any P. ehlersi specimens in the SLOPE material, presumably since the species inhabits only greater depths than those sampled.

Distribution. Paradiopatra ehlersi is a widely distributed species inhabiting great depths in the Pacific and Southern Oceans, including the Australian Antarctic sector. A few records have been reported from the North Atlantic (Mid-Atlantic Ridge) and northern parts of the Indian Ocean (Budaeva & Fauchald 2011, fig. 28). Depth range 2081–6350 m.