Ribbon worms (phylum Nemertea) from Bodega Bay, California: A largely undescribed diversity

Abstract

The diversity of nemerteans along the Pacific coast of the United States is regarded as well characterized, but there remain many cryptic, undescribed, and “orphan” species (those known only in their larval form). Recent sampling of nemerteans in Oregon and Washington has begun to fill in these taxonomic gaps, but nemertean diversity in California has received relatively little attention over the past 60 years. During the summers of 2019 and 2020, nemertean specimens were collected from 20 locations in the Bodega Bay region of northern California, USA, including rocky intertidal shores, sandy beaches, mudflats, and other habitats. Based on morphological assessment and DNA sequence analysis (partial Cytochrome Oxidase I and 16S rRNA genes), our surveys identified 34 nemertean species. Only 13 of these (38%) can be confidently assigned to described species. Another 11 represent species that are new to science, including members of the genera Riserius, Nipponnemertes, Poseidonemertes, Zygonemertes, Nemertellina, Oerstedia, and three species of uncertain affiliation. The remaining ten species include undescribed or cryptic species of uncertain status that have been found previously along the Pacific Coast of North America. Our surveys also document extensions of known geographic ranges for multiple species, including the first records in California of Antarctonemertes phyllospadicola, Cephalothrix hermaphroditica, and Maculaura oregonensis. This is the first report of the genus Nemertellina in the northeast Pacific and Riserius in California. Overall, our findings highlight how much remains to be learned about the diversity and distribution of nemerteans in the northeast Pacific.