Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-mmrw7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-13T01:45:34.074Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Morphology and biology of a new species of Trochochaeta (Annelida: Spionidae) from India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2026

M A Abdul Razaque ,
K. U. Abdul Jaleel Open the ORCID record for K. U. Abdul Jaleel [Opens in a new window] ,
Vasily I Radashevsky ,
Saraswathi Ragesh ,
Narayan Panda  and
Soniya Sukumaran
M A Abdul Razaque
Affiliation:
CSIR – National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Kochi, KL, India Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Cochin, KL, India
K. U. Abdul Jaleel*
Affiliation:
CSIR – National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Kochi, KL, India Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, UP, India
Vasily I Radashevsky*
Affiliation:
A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia
Saraswathi Ragesh
Affiliation:
CSIR – National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Kochi, KL, India
Narayan Panda
Affiliation:
CSIR – National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Kochi, KL, India
Soniya Sukumaran
Affiliation:
CSIR – National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Mumbai, India
*
Corresponding author: K. U. Abdul Jaleel; Email: jaleel.nio@csir.res.in, Vasily I Radashevsky; Email: radashevsky@mail.ru
Corresponding author: K. U. Abdul Jaleel; Email: jaleel.nio@csir.res.in, Vasily I Radashevsky; Email: radashevsky@mail.ru
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A new species of spionid polychaete from the coastal waters of southwest India, Trochochaeta chakara sp. nov., is described and illustrated. Adults are common on Alappuzha mud banks (locally known as Chakara) off the coast of Kerala. They live in silty tubes in soft sediment and are characterized by the presence of two pairs of red eyes, caruncle extending to end of chaetiger 1, heavy falcate spines in neuropodia of chaetigers 2 and 3 (those in chaetiger 3 much stronger and darker), capillary chaetae in notopodia of chaetigers 1, 3–10, frayed heavy spines in neuropodia of chaetigers 4–13, hirsute capillaries in neuropodia from chaetiger 14, lateral interneuropodial membranes from chaetiger 14, one pair of ventral papillae on each chaetiger from chaetigers 14–16, bundles of acicular spines in notopodia from chaetigers 50–52, and small pygidium with up to six pairs of short cirri. This is the third species of Trochochaeta described and found in the Indian Ocean, including T. orissae (Fauvel, 1932) and T. cirrifera (Hartman, 1975).

Keywords

biodiversitymorphologypolychaetesystematicstaxonomy

Information

Type
Marine Record
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 106 , 2026 , e18
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Achari, GPK (1968) Studies on new or little known polychaetes from Indian Seas. 1. Trochochaeta watsoni (Fauvel) and Poecilochaetus serpens Allen. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India 10(1), 99–106.Google Scholar
Blake, JA and Arnofsky, PL (1999) Reproduction and larval development of the spioniform Polychaeta with application to systematics and phylogeny. Hydrobiologia 402, 57–106. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003784324125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blake, JA and Maciolek, NJ (2020) Trochochaetidae Pettibone, 1963. In Purschke, G, Böggemann, M and Westheide, W (eds.) Handbook of Zoology: Annelida. Volume 2: pleistoannelida, Sedentaria II. Berlin: De Gruyter, 120–135.Google Scholar
Bogantes, V, Meiβner, K, Waits, D, Kocot, K, Kenneth, and Halanych, K (2024) Phylogenomic reconstruction influenced by assembly and annotation parameters: using whole genome data to unravel the relationships of Spionidae (Annelida). Zoologica Scripta 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12676.Google Scholar
Damodaran, R (1973) Studies on the benthos of the mud bank regions of the Kerala coast. Doctor of Philosophy Thesis. Bulletin of the Department of Marine Sciences University of Cochin 6, 1–126.Google Scholar
Ehrenberg, CG (1831) Phytozoa. Polygastrica et Rotatoria Africana et Asiatica. In: Hemprich, PC and Ehrenberg, CG (Eds.), Symbolae physicae. Seu icones et descriptiones corporum naturalium novorum aut minus cognitorum: quae ex itineribus per Libyam, Aegyptum, Nubiam, Dongalam, Syriam, Arabiam et Habessiniam. Zoologica II: Animalia evertebrata exclusis insectis: pt. 2. Officina Academica, Berolini, 1–51. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.107403CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fauvel, P (1916) Deux Polychètes nouvelles (Disoma watsoni n. sp. et Hyalinoecie brementi n. sp.): Bulletin de l’Institut Océanographique de Monaco 316. 1–10.Google Scholar
Fauvel, P (1932) Annelida Polychaeta of the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Memoires of the Indian Museum, Calcutta 12(1), 1–262.Google Scholar
Hartman, O (1974) Polychaetous annelids of the Indian Ocean including an account of species collected by members of the International Indian Ocean Expeditions, 1963-1964 and a catalogue and bibliography of the species from India. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India 16(1), 191–252.Google Scholar
Hernández-Alcántara, P and Solís-Weiss, V (2011) Trochochaeta mexicana, a new species from an unusual family of Polychaeta, with comments on the world distribution of Trochochaetidae. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 91(2), 403–413. https://doi.org/10.1017/s002531541000144x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoagland, RA (1920) Polychaetous annelids collected by the United States fisheries steamer “Albatross” during the Philippine expedition of 1907-1909. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 100(1), 603–635.Google Scholar
Intes, A and Lœuff, PL (1977) Les Annélides Polychètes de Côte d’Ivoire. II. - Polychètes sédentaires - compte rendu systématique. Cahiers O.R.S.T.O.M., Série Océanographie 15(3), 215–249.Google Scholar
Intes, A and Lœuff, PL (1986a) Les annélides polychètes de Côte d’Ivoire. IV. - Relations faune-sédiments. Oceanographie Tropicale 21(1), 53–88.Google Scholar
Intes, A and Lœuff, PL (1986b) Les annélides polychètes de Côte d’Ivoire. V. Mise en évidence et description des peuplements. Oceanographie Tropicale 21(2), 117–142.Google Scholar
Kirkegaard, JB (1959) The Polychaeta of West Africa Part I. Sedentary species. Atlantide Report 5, 7–117.Google Scholar
Levinsen, GMR (1884) Systematisk-geografisk-Oversigt over de nordiske Annulata, Gephyrea, Chætognathi og Balanoglossi. Videnskabelige Meddelelser Fra den Naturhistoriske Forening I Kjøbenhavn 45, 92–350.Google Scholar
Mackie, ASY (1990) The Poecilochaetidae and trochochaetidae (Annelida: Polychaeta) of Hong Kong. In: Morton, B (Ed.), The Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China II. Volume 1. Proceedings of the Second International Marine Biological Workshop, Hong Kong, 1986. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, 337–362.Google Scholar
Mulik, J, Sukumaran, S and Dias, HQ (2020a) Can the ecological status of three differentially impacted monsoonal tropical estuaries in NW India, be adequately assessed by a common estuarine benthic index? Ecological Indicators 119, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mulik, J, Sukumaran, S and Tatiparthi, S (2020b) Factors structuring spatio-temporal dynamics of macrobenthic communities of three differently modified tropical estuaries. Marine Pollution Bulletin 150(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110767.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Örsted, AS (1843) Annulatorum danicorum conspectus. Fasc. I. Maricolæ. Havniæ [Copenhagen], Sumtibus Librariæ Wahlianæ, 52.10.5962/bhl.title.11849CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paxton, H and Chou, LM (2000) Polychaetous annelids from the South China Sea. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 8 , 209–232.Google Scholar
Pettibone, MH (1963) Marine polychaete worms of the New England region. I. Families Aphroditidae through Trochochaetidae. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 227(1), 1–356.10.5479/si.03629236.227.1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pettibone, MH (1976) Contribution to the polychaete family Trochochaetidae Pettibone. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 230, 1–21.Google Scholar
Radashevsky, VI (2012) Spionidae (Annelida) from shallow waters around the British Islands: an identification guide for the NMBAQC Scheme with an overview of spionid morphology and biology. Zootaxa 3152(1), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3152.1.1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radashevsky, RAE, VI, Peixoto, AJM and Peixoto, Antoniojm (2018) First record of Trochochaeta japonica (Annelida: Spionidae) in Brazil with identification key to species of the genus. Zootaxa 4462(4), 566–578. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4462.4.8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Read, G and Fauchald, K (eds.) (2025) World polychaeta database. Trochochaeta. Levinsen, 1884. accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=129719 on 2025-08-10Google Scholar
Rengaiyan, P, De, K and Ingole, B (2017) Polychaete assemblage driven by substrate composition along the coastal waters of the South-eastern Arabian Sea. Regional Studies in Marine Science 16, 208–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2017.09.004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rouse, GW, Pleijel, F and Tilic, E (2022) Annelida. New York:Oxford University Press, 432pp.10.1093/oso/9780199692309.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shin, PKS 1982 Some Polychaetous Annelids from Hong Kong Waters. Morton, BS and Tseng, CK (Eds). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, 161–172.Google Scholar
Sivadas, S, Ingole, B and Fernandes, C (2013) Environmental gradient favours functionally diverse macrobenthic community in a placer rich tropical bay. The Scientific World Journal 2013, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/750580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sivadas, S, Ingole, B and Nanajkar, M (2010) Benthic polychaetes as good indicators of anthropogenic impact. Indian Journal of Marine Sciences 39(2), 201–211.Google Scholar
Sivadas, S, Nagesh, R, Gupta, GVM, Gaonkar, U, Mukherjee, I, Ramteke, D and Ingole, B (2016) Testing the efficiency of temperate benthic biotic indices in assessing the ecological status of a tropical ecosystem. Marine Pollution Bulletin 106, 62–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.03.026.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Srinivasa Rao, D and Rama Sarma, DV (1981) Homogeneity and diversity of intertidal polychaete fauna in the Vasishta Godavari Estuary. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences (Animal Sciences) 90(3), 321–331.Google Scholar
Sukumaran, S, Vijapure, T, Kubal, P, Mulik, J, Rokade, M, Salvi, S, Thomas, J and Naidu, V (2016) Polychaete community of a marine protected area along the west coast of india—prior and post the tropical cyclone, phyan. PLoS One 11, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159368.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sukumaran, S, Vijapure, T, Mulik, J and Ridha, H (2021) Marine macrobenthos of NorthWest India-reviewing the known and unknown. Frontiers in Marine Science 8, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.671245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, R, Lei, Y and Zhou, J (2008) Annelida: Polychaeta. Liu, JY (ed), Checklist of Marine Biota of China Seas. Beijing: Science Press, 405–452. [In Chinese]Google Scholar
Vijapure, T and Sukumaran, S (2019) Optimization of the taxonomic resolution of an indicator taxon for cost-effective ecological monitoring: perspectives from a heterogeneous tropical coastline. Journal of Environmental Management 247, 474–483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.05.154.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vijapure, T, Sukumaran, S, Neetu, S and Chandel, K (2019) Macrobenthos at marine hotspots along the northwest Indian inner shelf: patterns and drivers. Marine Environmental Research. 144, 111–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.12.007.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, Z, Xu, T, Qiu, J-W, Ji, Y, Yu, Z and Ke, C (2022) Morphological analysis of Rhynchospio aff. asiatica (Annelida: Spionidae) and comments on the phylogeny and reproduction of the family Spionidae. Journal of Oceanology and Limnology 40(3), 1257–1276. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-021-1068-z.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed