Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 76 (3): 363-370, 2003
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Paraonidae (Annelida: Polychaeta) from Coiba National Park (Pacific Ocean, Panamá), with
the description of a new species of Aricidea Webster, 1879
During the years 1996 and 1997, a research project aiming to characterize the marine
benthic fauna of Coiba National Park, located off the Pacific coast of Panamá, was conducted and special attention was paid to two
environments: sandy sublittoral bottoms and tidal flats. Sublittoral samples were taken in September of 1996, from two sites located
near coral reefs: Mali Rock and Granito de Oro. In both cases, sediment was composed of coarse sand coming from coral destruction.
Tidal samples were collected from Santa Cruz and El Gambute, two flats associated with mangrove systems where upper, middle
and lower intertidal sampling sites were selected. Three samplings were carried out in the flats, in June of 1996, in February of 1997
and in November of 1997. The study of the Paraonidae (Polychaeta) fauna revealed the presence of nine species belonging to three
different genera, four of which were new records for the Pacific area encompassed between southern Mexico and northern Colombia.
Moreover, a new species of Aricidea Webster, 1879 is described; it can be distinguished from the already described
species within the genus by the combined presence of an extremely long antenna, which extends to chaetiger 9, of a pair of large
posterior pair eyes, of 16 pairs of branchiae, and of numerous pseudoarticulated chaetae on abdominal neuropodia. These chaetae
have a thick shaft with a slightly curved tip and bear a straight and very long spine inserted subterminally.
Key words:
Paraonidae,
Aricidea, Coiba, Panamá
