Austropolaria is a genus of marine annelids in the family Polynoidae (scale worms). The genus includes a single species, Austropolaria magnicirrata, which is known only from the Amundsen Sea in the Southern Ocean, at depths of 1000 to 1500m.[2]
| Austropolaria | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Clade: | Pleistoannelida |
| Subclass: | Errantia |
| Order: | Phyllodocida |
| Family: | Polynoidae |
| Genus: | Austropolaria Neal, Barnich, Wiklund & Glover, 2012 |
| Type species | |
| Austropolaria magnicirrata Neal, Barnich, Wiklund & Glover, 2012[1] | |
Description
editThe characters which distinguish Austropolaria from other scale worm genera in the predominantly deep sea subfamily Macellicephalinae are seven pairs of papillae on the pharynx, nine pairs of reduced elytrophores, ventral cirri inserted subdistally on the neuropodia, and a ventral keel at the posterior end.
Description of Austropolaria magnicirrata
editA. magnicirrata has 20 segments and 9 pairs of elytra. The lateral antennae are absent and notochaetae are distinctly thicker than neurochaetae.[3]
Biology and Ecology
editIn the region of the Amundsen Sea studied, Austropolaria magnicirrata was absent from shallow (500m) stations and only occurred in the deeper basin thought to be the result of erosion by sub-glacial meltwater.[2]
References
edit- ^ Read, G.; Fauchald, K. (Ed.) (2020). World Polychaeta database. Austropolaria Neal, Barnich, Wiklund & Glover, 2012. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=710671
- ^ a b Neal L, Barnich R, Wiklund H, Glover AG (2012) A new genus and species of Polynoidae (Annelida, Polychaeta) from Pine Island Bay, Amundsen Sea, Southern Ocean-a region of high taxonomic novelty. Zootaxa 3542: 80–88. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3542.1.4.
- ^ Fauchald, K.; Wilson, R.S. (2003). "Polynoidae (Polychaeta)-A DELTA database of genera, and Australian species". In R.S. Wilson; P.A. Hutchings; C. J. Glasby (eds.). Polychaetes: An Interactive Identification Guide. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing.