Hyalinecia (sic) Edwardsi Roule, 1898—the enigmatic ghost from abyssal depths—redescribed as Nothria edwardsi (Annelida: Onuphidae)

Abstract

The deep sea is one of the largest ecosystems on earth, extending from 200 m, where sunlight becomes inadequate for photosynthesis, to the deepest trenches. However, it is still one of the least explored. Polychaetes are among the dominant groups in these environments worldwide and play a critical role in the deep sea food chain. Within polychaetes, the onuphids are one the best represented families from 2000 m deep to the hadal zone, with 46 recorded species (Paterson et al. 2009). Hyalinoecia edwardsi Roule, 1898 is one of the early described abyssal onuphids. The species was described from the Talisman station 136, located between the Azores archipelago and the Iberian Peninsula (referred as “l’Espagne”) at 4255 m depth (Roule 1898). The original description is rather brief without illustrations and the species was characterised as follows: thick antennae, lateral ones reaching chaetiger 3; first chaetiger twice as long as second one; parapodia of first chaetiger with thick falcate hooks; parapodia of second chaetiger with bidentate hooks; parapodia of third chaetiger with limbate chaetae; following chaetigers with limbate, pectinate chaetae and subacicular hooks; oval tube looking flattened and covered by small particles, mainly quartzites of different colours (Roule 1898).