Dear Dave,
I can confirm that Pista dibranchis Gibbs, 1971, was listed under the genus Scionella Moore, 1903, by Holthe, 1986, but that was just a listing, he did not give his reasons for moving it. Holthe did say "tidying up within the large genera (as Pista and Terebellides) must await revision". Saphronova knew of the species - she mentioned it in 1985 (in Russian). Perhaps she did not consider it a member of the genus Scionella in 1991.
The original description mentions two branchiae (1 pair), but I would not move the species into the genus Pistella Hartmann-Schröder, 1996, for that reason alone:
1) Other species of Pista, e.g. Pista bansei Saphronova, 1988, have two branchiae. The position of the branchiae may be important.
2) The coleopteran generic name Pistella Muller, 1764, has been suppressed for the purposes of Priority but not for those of Homonymy (ICZN Opinion 1754, 1994).
It sounds as though these genera are in need of revision - the type specimens of Pista dibranchis Gibbs, 1971, are here in London if a terebellid expert is interested! In the mean time I would leave this species in Pista, as that is the commonly used name and it would be convenient to have all the available information on the species under one name.
I suspect that several polychaete species will be found in Papua New Guinea and in the Solomon Islands, but the only species I can think of at the moment is the chrysopetalid Arichlidon hanneloreae Watson Russell, 1998.
I hope the above isn't too confused!
Alex Muir
________________________________
From: annelida-bounces from oat.bio.indiana.edu [mailto:annelida-bounces from oat.bio.indiana.edu] On Behalf Of Joao Miguel de Matos Nogueira
Sent: 20 July 2007 12:42
Dear Dave
I don't know that species, nor have any description here, however, if the name "dibranchis" means it only has two branchiae (1 pair), it probably belongs to Pistella Hartmann-Schröder, 1996.
Cheers
João
On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 01:33:30 -0400, Karlen, David wrote
> Hi fellow worm folk,
> Does anyone know what the current status of Pista dibranchis Gibbs, 1971 is? I have a terebellid from Papua New Guinea which matches Gibbs' original description from the Solomon Islands. According to Zoological Records, this species was placed in Scionella by Hothe (1986), but it is not mentioned in Saphronova's review of this genus (1991). I have come across several web pages that have it listed as P. dibranchis and I was wondering which name is currently valid. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
> Thank you,
> Dave Karlen
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