Description of a new species of <i>Spinosphaera</i> (Polychaeta: Terebellidae) from the eastern Mediterranean

Abstract The present study describes a new Mediterranean terebellid, Spinosphaera latachaeta sp. nov., found along the Aegean coast of Türkiye and the Sea of Marmara, between 27 and 80 m depth in soft substrata. It can be morphologically distinguished from all other species of Spinosphaera having 18 pairs of notopodia, double rows of uncini present until the last notopodia, and 11 pairs of Spinosphaera -chaetae. A dichotomous taxonomic key and a table summarizing the morphological characters that distinguish all species of Spinosphaera are provided. This study also reports, for the first time, the transformations of Spinosphaera -chaetae and saw-like chaetae from the anterior to posterior segments of body. ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:628B1F01-166A-4E26-9C42-39D0CBFDE998.