Malmgrenia furcosetosa

Loshamn, 1981

Description:
A scale-worm with a body of uniform width. Dorsal and ventral surfaces smooth.
Prostomium bilobed, without peaks, with a median antenna, a pair of lateral antennae, laterally inserted, and a pair of palps. Two pairs of eyes, the anterior pair on the front lateral edge, the posterior pair well in front of the posterior margin.
First segment bearing chaetae and a pair of dorsal and ventral tentacular cirri. Scales overlap, covering the body. The first pair of scales are oval, the rest oval to kidney-shaped, the margins smooth and the anterior surfaces with small tubercles.
Notopodia are small mounds with a ventral acicular ligule and abundant chaetae. Notopodial chaetae of 3 kinds: 1) stout with rows of spines and blunt tips; 2) capillaries with spines and forked tips; 3) capillaries with spines and fine tips. Neuropodia well developed with an anterior acicular ligule and chaetae. Neuropodial chaetae are spinose with bidentate tips and a few in lower position with unidentate tips (M. furcosetosa-detail).

Size:
Up to 42 mm for 41 chaetigers.

Colour:
Grey.

Habitat:
Littoral to sublittoral on soft muddy bottoms. Found in burrows of Neoamphitrite edwardsi .

Distribution:
Northeast Atlantic, English Channel, Skagerrak.

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