A new small species of Lumbrineris from northern Norway and arctic waters,with comments on L-minuta (Theel, 1879) and L-vanhoeffeni (Michaelsen, 1898) - (Polychaeta : Lumbrineridae)

A small lumbrinerid polychaete, Lumbrineris mixochaeta new species, is desc ribed from northern Norway and the Barents Sea. Its most characteristic fea ture is the presence of composite hooded hooks among simple hooded hooks in anterior setigers. The number of composite hooks, as well as the distinctn ess of the articulation between shaft and blade, varies among specimens, ho wever, and a number of specimens do not have composite hooks. Material of L umbrineris vanhoeffeni (Michaelsen, 1898) from Greenland and ty pe material of Lumbrineris minuta (Theel, 1879) from Novaya Zemlya were examined for c omparison. The new species resembles L. vanhoeffeni, but appears to differ by its smaller size, and in having lower numbers of setae. Lumbrineris minu ta was found to be indeterminate, representing a mixture of species. In add ition, juvenile specimens of Scoletoma fragilis (O.F. Muller, 1776) were ex amined to assess characters discriminating the species. Ovigerous females o f L. mixochaeta were found in all seasons, while males with sperm were pres ent only during winter and spring. Developing eggs reached 180-200 mu m in size during spring and early summer.