16 June 2005
Barbara and Myles,
Try looking at a description of Notomastus fauveli Day. Use Ward & Fauchald 1997 Bibliography to get the original description if you don't have Day's 1967 monograph. The species is included here but was published separately earlier. It has what look to me like linearly arranged (each as a short transverse line of 5-6 or more short filaments) branchiae on each side of the animal - he shows a cross section.
>From Barbara's photos, I think the brilliant red filaments are too regularly arranged in rows to be ovisacs of parasitic copepods, although we all know that these can cause a lot of confusion. Also, some filaments seem to have broken off, and the bases look like broken branchiae, not like the tail end of a copepod.
If the species is this, it may be a new distribution record and perhaps an introduced species, but as I wrote to Barbara earlier, I have not been looking at Notomastus, so I may be overlooking better possibilities.
Mary
Dr. Mary E. Petersen
Research Associate, Polychaeta
Darling Marine Center, University of Maine
193 Clark's Cove Road, Walpole, ME 04573, USA
E-mail: mepetersen at maine.edu
Tel. DMC: +1 (207) 563-3146 ext. 222
Fax DMC: +1 (207) 563-3119
http://www.dmc.maine.edu
Barbara
I was fascinated by the odd looking gills on your Notomastus. Are they present on all worms? I have never seen any gills on Notomastus from Scottish waters but I have been studying parasitic copepods from polychaetes for a number of years and think it is possible that these might be protruding ovisacs from some sort of endoparasites. Aphanodomus terebellae is not uncommon in terebellids but usually only onserved when the ovisacs protrude from the host. I have collected an undescribed species (probably a new genus or family!) of endoparasitic copepod from Notomastus around UK waters - but this species does not appear to extrude its ovisacs. I cannot discern actual eggs in the appendages in your photos and they should come in pairs for copepods. On the other hand there variable size, location and orientation on the body does suggest to me that that they are not part of the worms normal morphology. Can't tell much more without a closer examination or dissection of the peculiar appendages.
All for now.
Myles O'Reilly
Senior Marine Biologist
Scottish Environment Protection Agency
Redwood Crescent
Peel Park
East Kilbride
Glasgow G74 5PP
Scotland
Tel. 01355 574 249
Fax. 01355 574 688
-----Original Message-----
From: B Paavo [mailto:paavo at wormguy.com]
Sent: 13 June 2005 10:27
To: annelida at net.bio.net
Subject: [Annelida] Barbara's Notomastus
Aloha Annelid Folks,
The Notomastus images Barbara raised for discussion are posted in a gallery
at:
http://www.wormguy.com/NotoGallery/index.htm
if that helps.
Cheers,
Brian 8)
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