Laubieriopsis sankalpae sp. nov., a new fauveliopsid polychaete (Annelida, Sedentaria, Fauveliopsidae) from a seamount in the eastern Arabian Sea
M. L. Vishnu, K. U. Abdul Jaleel, Sergio Ignacio Salazar-Vallejo, K. X. Ann Varna, M. A. Abdul Razaque, Abdulaziz AnasAbstract
A new species of fauveliopsid annelid polychaete, Laubieriopsis sankalpae sp. nov., is described based on specimens collected from the summit of a seamount in the southeastern Arabian Sea. Laubieriopsis sankalpae inhabits deep-water sediments and can be distinguished from the other congeners by having 18 chaetigers, chaetigers 1–3 bearing four bidentate acicular chaetae per rami, its fourth segment transitional with one knife-like acicular and long hirsute capillary chaetae per rami, and a genital papilla unpaired, on left side near the posterior margin of chaetiger 8. This new species also represents the first record of the genus in the Indian Ocean.