''Neopolynoe'' is a genus of marine

polychaete worms Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are m ...

belonging to the family

Polynoidae Polynoidae is a family of marine Polychaete worms known as "scale worms" due to the scale-like elytra on the dorsal surface. Almost 900 species are currently recognised belonging to 9 subfamilies and 167 genera. They are active hunters, but gene ...

, the scaleworms. ''Neopolynoe'' contains 4 species, all known from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

from shallow water to depths of about 2500 m.Loshamn, Alf-Arian 1981. Descriptions of five polynoid species (Polychaeta) from the coasts of Norway and Sweden, including three new species, one new genus and one new generic name. Zoologica Scripta, 10(1): 5-13., available online at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1463-6409.1981.tb00480.xBock G, Fiege D, Barnich R (2010) Revision of Hermadion Kinberg, 1856, with a redescription of Hermadion magalhaensi Kinberg, 1856, Adyte hyalina (G.O. Sars, 1873) n. comb. and Neopolynoe acanellae (Verrill, 1881) n. comb. (Polychaeta: Polynoidae). Zootaxa 2554: 45–61. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2554.1.4.

Description

Species of ''Neopolynoe'' are long-bodied scale worms with about 60–105 segments and 15 pairs of elytra. The bilobed

prostomium The prostomium (From Ancient Greek, meaning "before the mouth"; plural: prostomia; sometimes also called the "acron") is the cephalized first body segment in an annelid worm's body at the anterior end. It is in front of (but does not include) th ...

has a pair of cephalic peaks present and the lateral antennae are inserted ventrally beneath the median antenna. The neuropodial lobe is elongate and tapering. The ornamented

notochaetae A chaeta or cheta (from Greek χαίτη “crest, mane, flowing hair"; plural: chaetae) is a chitinous bristle or seta found in annelid worms, (although the term is also frequently used to describe similar structures in other invertebrates such ...

are thicker than or about as thick as the

neurochaetae A chaeta or cheta (from Greek χαίτη “crest, mane, flowing hair"; plural: chaetae) is a chitinous bristle or seta found in annelid worms, (although the term is also frequently used to describe similar structures in other invertebrates such ...

. Two kinds of neurochaetae may be present: with simple blunt tips or with bidentate tips.

Species

As at October 2020, ''Neopolynoe'' contains four species: *'' Neopolynoe acanellae'' (Verrill, 1882) *'' Neopolynoe antarctica'' (Kinberg, 1858) *'' Neopolynoe chondrocladiae'' (Fauvel, 1943) *'' Neopolynoe paradoxa'' (Anon, 1888)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3916125 Phyllodocida Polychaete genera