Taxonomy of Sternaspidae Carus, 1863 (Annelida) off Brazilian Shore

• Grant number: 23/11506-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2023
• End date: November 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Antonia Cecília Zacagnini Amaral
• Grantee: Carlo Tonelo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/10313-0 - Build-up of scientific collections of marine invertebrates: strategies for biodiversity conservation, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

Sternaspidae Carus, 1863, is a family of Annelida, containing infaunal and detritivore polychaetes from all around the world. Sternaspidae body is divided into a retractile introvert and an abdomen, in which the ventro-caudal shield, synapomorphy of the group, is found. Currently, Sternaspidae counts on 55 described species. in four genera, but this number is underestimated, considering what has already been observed in a few studies around the world. So, the main goal of the present Scientific Initiation (SI) project is to study the diversity of sternaspids in brazilian habitats, by identifying and describing the species of Sternaspidae present in the collection of the Museum of Zoology of Campinas State University (MDBio/IB-UNICAMP), Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo (MZUSP), and the National Museum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ), including new to science species, in case any is found. Specimens collected in Antarctica by a team from the Institute of Oceanography (IO USP) may also be studied, depending on the availability of time. This review of Brazilian sternaspids should include, at least, redescriptions of Caulleryaspis chicosciencei, since its morphological characteristics do not match the diagnosis of the genus, and of Petersernaspis capillata, using modern concepts, as well as the description of a new species of Sternaspis, which has already been identified in previous analyzes of the material.