Flabelligena gascognensis sp. nov. (Polychaeta: Acrocirridae), a new species from the Capbreton Canyon (Bay of Biscay, NE Atlantic)

Abstract

Flabelligena gascognensis (Annelida: Polychaeta), a new species of the family Acrocirridae Banse, 1969 is described from the northeastern Atlantic. The specimens were collected from the Capbreton Canyon, Bay of Biscay, at depths between 545 and 1113 m. The new species has three pairs of branchiae and a pair of large ventral papillae. A light emendation of the diagnosis of the genus is proposed with the aim of including the new species and two other species, Flabelligella mediterranea Kolmer, 1985 and Flabelligella biscayensis Kolmer, 1985, into the genus Flabelligena. A key and a comparative table of the main characters of the known species of the genus are also included.