Dear Anneliders,
Jim Blake wrote: "....
>(1) A synonym of Nephtys cornuta
>(2) A valid species of Micronephthys
>Does anyone have any thoughts on this situation?
A few years back (my references are still boxed, the office should move
next month some time...) Derek Ellis (U. Victoria, Victoria BC) had one of
his students study a large set of Nephtys cornuta cornuta and N. c.
franciscana from a site in Vancouver Island. Careful analysis showed that
the two subspecies merged with time and age. The article appeared in the
Canadian Journal of Zoology. I sort of refereed the project but they did
not include material from California.
I have always felt that N. cornuta and N. minuta/neotena belonged in
the same taxonomic grouping, whether genus or subgenus. I am interested in
Jirkov's paper because his specimens differ from those I have seen from the
Gulf of St. Lawrence (mine all have the branchiae from setiger 5, no
variation).
Noyes made a seriious error in assigning his new species to the genus
"Aglaophamus" on the basis of a slight curve in the branchiae. Aglaophamus
has bifid setae that are never found in Nephtys neotena and the curve in the
branchiae is typical of all juvenile nephtyids.
This group needs a lot more more work. Once we get the collections
moved and settled (target date is next February but things are behind
schedule...), I would be happy to provide British Columbia and Gulf of St.
Lawrence material to anyone who wants to take a look.
Judy Fournier
Canadian Museum of Nature
<JFOURNIER at mus-nature.ca>
