Evaluation of “<i>Cirriformia tentaculata</i>” (Annelida: Cirratulidae) from Japan as a Pollution Indicator in Marine Environments: Is it Truly a Single Species?

“Cirriformia tentaculata” is considered to be distributed throughout Japanese waters and is used as an indicator species of organic pollution in coastal regions. However, previous studies indicated that “C. tentaculata” from Japan contained cryptic or sibling species. In order to solve this taxonomic problem, we collected specimens of Cirriformia Hartman, 1936 from throughout Japan and conducted taxonomic analyses. Molecular phylogenetic analyses showed that the Cirriformia worms collected could be divided into twelve phylogroups. We conducted detailed morphological analyses of each phylogroup and found morphological differences between each. Ten species were considered new to science, and the remaining two had the morphology according to the original description of C. tentaculata (Montagu, 1808). Physio-chemical characteristics of their habitats were not identical between each species, which suggested that the so-called “C. tentaculata” in Japanese waters is not adequate as a pollutant indicator.