New record of Ficopomatus uschakovi (Pillai, 1960) (Polychaeta: Serpulidae) from the Northern Bay of Bengal, India: A multivariate approach

The present paper reports the occurrence Ficopomatus uschakovi for the first time from a brackish water pond of West Bengal as well as from the entire Northern Bay of Bengal ecoregion.This study includes a brief diagnosis of the species Ficopomatus uschakovi with specific emphasis on its habitat.Principal component analysis revealed substantial variability (PC1: 49.1%) among the species and the most influenced morphometric characters contributing to this variation were thoracic membrane followed by direction of Opercular Spine and tube.Additionally, Canonical Analysis of Principal Coordinates exhibited significant differences among the congeners of the genus Ficopomatus based on morphometric characteristics.