Description ³

As with other members of Family Polynoidae, the dorsal side of this species is covered with a series of platelike elytra. Harmothoe imbricata has 15 pairs of elytra which cover nearly all the segments (several elytra have fallen off the individual above). The elytra have a light fringe of papillae around the edge (photo). There is only one basic kind of notoseta and one kind of neuroseta on any given segment. Most of the neurosetae fork at the tip (are bifid). The notosetae are thicker than the neurosetae. One pair of eyes is visible dorsally (unless covered by elytra), but the anterior pair of eyes cannot be seen except from the side (photo). The lateral prostomial antennae are inserted ventrally to the medial antenna (photo). Color highly variable, though brown is common.

In Lake Merritt ⁴

This scale worm is occasionally abundant under and around rocks near Lake Chalet. Make sure to count the scales: if there are more or less than 15, you might have a different species.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Damon Tighe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Damon Tighe
2. (c) cyric, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by cyric
3. (c) Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/10455448
4. (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
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• CalPhotos
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• NBN Atlas
• SeaLifeBase
• World Polychaeta Database
• World Register of Marine Species

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