Presence of Prionospio (Prionospio) orensanzi Blake, 1983 (Polychaeta: Spionidae) off Punta Arenas, Chile, with notes on their abundance and spatial distribution in shallow, subtidal sandy bottoms

Abstract

This paper confirm the presence of the spionid polychaete Prionospio (Prionospio) orensanzi Blake 1983, from a shallow, sandy, subtidal benthic area, between 5 and 20 m of depth, near to domestic wastewater and the Las Minas river fresh water discharge, off Punta Arenas (53°08'00''S, 70°51'15''W to 53°10'30''S, 70°54'30''W), Chile. The external morphology of this specimens agree well with the original description of this species. P. (P.) orensanzi was collected together to 42 others polychaete species, where nine spionids species are listed. The family Spionidae was the most common of the polychaetes collected in the sampling area, with P.(P.) orensanzi being the most abundant species. This new record confirm the presence of this species in Chilean waters, increase to three the number of members of the genus Prionospio (Prionospio) on the Chilean coast, and nearly to 41 the total number of species of Spionidae from Chile. A key to the Chilean species of Prionospio is presented.