Parapionosyllis cabezali, a new species of Exogoninae (Polychaeta : Syllidae) from Spain

Parapionosyllis cabezali, a new species of Exogoninae (Polychaeta: Syllidae ) from the Atlantic coast of Spain, is described. This new species is chara cterised by the shape of the simple and compound setae, small dorso-ventral gradation in the length of the blades, and by the presence along the body of two types of parapodial glands, which open dorsally separately from each other. Campoy (1982) identified three specimens collected in Punta Endata, Guipuzc oa, NE Atlantic, Spain, as Parapionosyllis cf. gestans (Pierantoni, 1903). Subsequently, during a study of the taxonomy and ecology of the sublittoral soft bottom benthic polychaetous annelids in the Ria de Ferrol and Ria de Baiona, both located on the Atlantic coast of NW Spain, more specimens of t his species were collected and reported by Parapar (1991), Parapar et al. ( 1994) and Moreira (1999). Examination by SEM of several specimens collected in the Ria de Baiona (NW Spain) has provided evidence that these organisms represent a new species. The specimens are characterized by the shape and dorso-ventral gradation in the length of the compound setal blades and by t he presence along the body of two types of parapodial glands. In this paper , we describe and discuss this new species. The diagnosis of the genus was provided by Fauvel (1923) and San Martin (1984).