Ophryotrocha hartmanni

Huth, 1933

Description:
Body slender and small.
Prostomium triangular, without eyes. Two small antennae; a tuft of cilia instead of palps. Peristomium completely fused to prostomium, with two tufts of cilia laterally.
Chaetigers 2 and 3 each with a dorsolateral tuft of cilia at either side. Parapodium subcylindrical, with three to four distal lobes, with one acicula. Dorsal and ventral cirri lacking. Chaetae of three kinds: 1) 2-3 blunt, curved chaetae with a short finely toothed region subdistally on the convex side; 2) 1-2 shorter, thinner, slightly curved chaetae; 3) 2-3 ventral compound chaetae with short smooth blades (O. hartmanni-chaetae).
Pygidium with two short awl-shaped cirri.
Mandibles X-shaped, with an anterior part in form of a finely toothed W; in adults the anterior part is less than half of the length of the posterior part of the mandibles, in juveniles the anterior part is only slightly shorter than the posterior part. Maxillary carriers fused to each other and to forceps-like basal maxillae; each maxillary fang bifid distally; two pairs of roughly toothed plates and five pairs of minutely toothed plates (maxillae) (O. hartmanni-jaw plates).

Size:
Length 4-5 mm for 30 chaetigers.

Colour:
Yellowish white, segments surrounded by a thin bluish line.

Habitat:
Found amongst bottom detritus in the aquarium at Roscoff, France.

Distribution:
English Channel and Mediterranean.

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