Filling in another piece of the puzzle: Using Integrative Taxonomy to establish yet another new species of Hediste (Annelida, Polychaeta, Nereididae)
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: One of the most prevalent autochthonous polychaete taxa in the European Atlantic and Mediterranean seas is the genus Hediste (Nereididae, Polychaeta, Annelida). Its species provide food for aquatic life, such as fish and crustaceans, playing significant ecological roles in trophic webs. Until 2022, only the species Hediste diversicolor was referenced for Atlantic and Mediterranean waters; nonetheless, it is a cryptic species, in which Hediste pontii in the Adriatic Sea, and Hediste astae in the Aegean, Black, Caspian, and Baltic seas have recently been established. In this paper, we propose a new species of polychaete, Hediste sinesimplex sp. nov. for the Western Mediterranean, Baltic and Eastern North seas, based on an integrative approach, focusing on traditional taxonomy and DNA barcoding analysis. In addition to the morphological description, we have also included 3D models of this new species to exemplify the use of this technique for in-depth morphological description.
Source: Zootaxa
Institutions: Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade Federal do Pará, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Albel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade de Vigo, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Universidade Federal da Paraíba
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4414446449