Hediste undetermined

Hediste sp. Fig. 5 E – G Material examined. MZB.Pol.00278 (4 specimens), collected by Joko Pamungkas on 23 November 2017 from Warmar Island: Siwalima Village, Aru Islands District, Aru Islands Regency, Maluku Province (5°45'26.9"S, 134°13'23.5"E). Diagnosis. Body color in alcohol cream with striking brown pigmentation in some areas, including prostomium (except around midline), peristomium (as a transverse band), dorsal area of chaetigers 1–16 (as a longitudinal band around midline), and lateral side of dorsal area of same chaetigers (as a bar on each side). Prostomium with entire anterior margin. Four circular black eyes present, arranged rather obliquely with distance between anterior eyes slightly wider than that of posterior ones. Antennae conical. Palps biarticulated with subconical palpophores and elongated palpostyles. Peristomium length greater than that of chaetiger 1. Four pairs of peristomial cirri with distinct cirrophores present; longest cirri reaching chaetiger 6. Paragnaths present on both rings; Area VI without smooth-bar paragnaths. Dorsal fascicle of neurochaetae with heterogomph falcigers (in anterior chaetae) and simple (fused) falcigers. Distribution and habitat. The species was obtained from Maluku, Indonesia, inhabiting intertidal sandy shores with reef rubble. Remarks. Our specimens fit the minimal generic diagnosis of Wilson et al. (2023), i. e., ‘ Neurochaetae dorsal fascicle simple chaetae (fused falcigers) present; palpophore massive subconical, flattened (palpostyle is minute by comparison) ’. Hediste is one of the least species-rich nereidid genera with only eight species described worldwide. Namely, Hediste astae Teixeira et al., 2022, Hediste atoka Sato & Nakashima, 2003, Hediste diadroma Sato & Nakashima, 2003, Hediste diversicolor (O. F. Müller, 1776), Hediste japonica (Izuka, 1908), Hediste limnicola (Johnson, 1903), Hediste pontii Teixeira et al., 2022, Hediste rabatensis (Mohammad, 1989). Hediste sp. in the present work may represent a new species. In such a case, the species will be described in a separate taxonomic work, preferably with genetic data.