Giant Eunicid Polychaetes (Annelida) in shallow tropical and temperate seas

Some species of Eunice might reach giant size, often being longer than 2m, and they are known from tropical and temperate seas. Despite their large size and recent internet notoriety, there remain some taxonomic problems in large-sized eunicids, especially since original descriptions were brief and...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Sergio I. Salazar-Vallejo, Luis F. Carrera-Parra, J. Angel de León-González
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:México
Institución:Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León
Repositorio:Redalyc-UANL
OAI Identifier:oai:redalyc.org:44920903002
Acceso en línea:https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=44920903002
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Biología
Eunice
Leodice
Red Sea
Eunicidae
Indian Ocean
Descripción
Sumario:Some species of Eunice might reach giant size, often being longer than 2m, and they are known from tropical and temperate seas. Despite their large size and recent internet notoriety, there remain some taxonomic problems in large-sized eunicids, especially since original descriptions were brief and type materials are often missing. As a mean to encourage the solution of this situation, we review the historical progress in the taxonomy of the group, including some comments on generic and specific delineation, and recommend some critical steps to solve the current confusion. These ideally would include collecting in type localities, evaluate ontogenetic morphological changes, and generate some molecular analysis to complement the morphological approach.