''Tottonpolynoe'' is a genus of marine polychaete worms 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. ''Tottonpolynoe'' contains a single species, ''Tottonpolynoe symantipatharia''. It is known from the South

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

at depths of about .Pettibone, M.H. (1991). Polynoid polychaetes commensal with antipatharian corals. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 104(4): 714-726., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34809416

Description

''Tottonpolynoe symantipatharia'' is a long-bodied scale worm comprising between 55 and 71 segments with 16 pairs of elytra. The elytra are large, delicate and cover the dorsum on the anterior part of the body but not on posterior segments. The

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 ...

is bilobed with widely spaced triangular cephalic peaks. The lateral antennae are inserted ventrally, directly beneath the median antenna ceratophore. The neuropodium is elongate and tapering. The

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 smooth and about as thick as

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 ...

. The neurochaetae have serrations in transverse rows and sharply pointed unidentate tips. Neurochaetae with bidentate tips are also absent.

Ecology

''Tottonpolynoe symantipatharia'' has a commensal relationship with antipatharian and gorgonian corals.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q42782387 Phyllodocida