Re-description of Timarete punctata (Polychaeta: Cirratulidae) and its occurrence in the Mediterranean Sea

Timarete punctata (Grube, 1859) is re-described based on type material. In addition, a lectotype and paralectotype are designated for this species. Specimens of T. punctata collected from the western Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea were examined and their morphological characters compared using correlation and regression analysis. A number of characters were found to be size- dependent. The presence of T. punctata in the Levantine Sea (but not in the rest of the Mediterranean) suggests that it could be a Lessepsian species. This species might have previously been reported in the Levantine Sea as Cirriformia semicincta (Ehlers, 1905).