Nerillidae of Hawai'i: Two New Records of Interstitial Polychaetes

Abstract

Two species of the polychaete family Nerillidae are reported from sand collected from the south shore of O'ahu, Hawai'i. Nerilla antennata O. Schmidt was collected from a shallow fringing reef, and Mesonerilla fagei Swedmark with coarse sand from Honolulu Harbor. Both are less than 0.5 mm in length and occupy an interstitial habitat. Nerilla antennata has a broad geographic distribution including Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, and M. fagei is known from the North Atlantic. The morphology of Hawaiian specimens is described and reproductive stages of M. fagei are illustrated.