A new species of Kirkegaardia (Annelida: Polychaeta, Cirratulidae) from the southeast coast of India

Abstract

A new polychaete species, Kirkegaardia serracroochaeta sp. nov. belonging to family Cirratulidae collected from the Chennai port, southeast coast of India is described here. This species possesses distinctly serrated capillary setae. The unique morphological characters of this species are presence of four serrated chaetae, which are referred as special chaetae 1-4. They possess important species-level characteristics such as serrated capillaries, less-spaced teeth and barbs downwards; in addition chaeta 2 is crooked in the middle. This species is named after the special characteristics it possesses when compared to the already existing species of genus Kirkegaardia.