A new species of Sphaerosyllis (Polychaeta, Syllidae, Exogoninae) from the coasts of Italy and Cyprus (eastern Mediterranean sea)

The faunistic analysis of hard and soft benthic materials collected from the Marine Reserve of Porto Cesareo (Ionian Sea, Salento Peninsula, Italy) and the coast of northern Cyprus (Levant Sea) revealed a new species of Sphaerosyllis, S. boeroi sp. n. (Polychaeta, Syllidae, Exogoninae). This species is mainly characterized by having compound chaetae with discernable subdistal spine, a strong dorso-ventral gradation in size of blades throughout the body, elongated slender blades of superior compound chaetae on anterior and middle parapodia, parapodial glands with fibrillar material, and the distributional pattern of papillae on the body surface. Sphaerosyllis boeroi is described and compared to the other morphologically similar species, with emphasis on its ecological and reproductive patterns.