WoRMS source details
Hartman, Olga. (1938). Brackish and fresh-water Nereidae from the northeast Pacific, with the description of a new species from central California. University of California Publications in Zoology. 43(4): 79-82.
50159
Hartman, Olga
1938
Brackish and fresh-water Nereidae from the northeast Pacific, with the description of a new species from central California.
University of California Publications in Zoology
43(4): 79-82
Publication
World Polychaeta Database (WPolyDb)
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[From introduction:]
The family Nereidae is unique among the polychaetous annelids in that it includes many (almost 50) euryhaline species. These species belong to 11 genera; about half of them are representatives of the genus Namanereis Chamberlin (= Lycastis of most authors) or the closely related genera Lycastoides Johnson and Lycastopsis Augener. Furthermore, over half of them are known only from tropical or subtropical waters of the western Pacific.
The northeast Pacific is known to have but few nereids except in strictly marine habitats. It seems likely, however, that the numerous drainages along coastal California contain additional species. The cosmopolitan Neanthes succinea (Frey and Leuckart) abounds in the brackish waters of Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, as well as in San Francisco Bay and its estuaries. Neanthes saltoni Hartman was recently (1936) described from Salton Sea, California, a twentieth-century revival of the former (1853) extensive Cahuilla Lake. The history of N. saltoni is an intriguing problem. That the nereid is a survival of marine invasion is hardly likely, since Cahuilla Lake is said to have dried up by the late nineteenth century, depositing great quantities of salt in the depression which subsequently became Salton Sea. There is, however, an unconfirmed report that a small channel of salt water persisted during this period. Later inundation by the fresh waters of the Colorado River established the present lake. Since the floodwaters of the Colorado overflowed into the lake several times in the course of the twentieth century, its salinity must have fluctuated materially.
The family Nereidae is unique among the polychaetous annelids in that it includes many (almost 50) euryhaline species. These species belong to 11 genera; about half of them are representatives of the genus Namanereis Chamberlin (= Lycastis of most authors) or the closely related genera Lycastoides Johnson and Lycastopsis Augener. Furthermore, over half of them are known only from tropical or subtropical waters of the western Pacific.
The northeast Pacific is known to have but few nereids except in strictly marine habitats. It seems likely, however, that the numerous drainages along coastal California contain additional species. The cosmopolitan Neanthes succinea (Frey and Leuckart) abounds in the brackish waters of Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, as well as in San Francisco Bay and its estuaries. Neanthes saltoni Hartman was recently (1936) described from Salton Sea, California, a twentieth-century revival of the former (1853) extensive Cahuilla Lake. The history of N. saltoni is an intriguing problem. That the nereid is a survival of marine invasion is hardly likely, since Cahuilla Lake is said to have dried up by the late nineteenth century, depositing great quantities of salt in the depression which subsequently became Salton Sea. There is, however, an unconfirmed report that a small channel of salt water persisted during this period. Later inundation by the fresh waters of the Colorado River established the present lake. Since the floodwaters of the Colorado overflowed into the lake several times in the course of the twentieth century, its salinity must have fluctuated materially.
California quadrant
Freshwater
Systematics, Taxonomy
Systematics, Taxonomy
Neanthes lighti Hartman, 1938 accepted as Hediste limnicola (Johnson, 1903) (original description)
Neanthes saltoni (Hartman, 1936) accepted as Alitta succinea (Leuckart, 1847) (basis of record)
Neanthes saltoni (Hartman, 1936) accepted as Alitta succinea (Leuckart, 1847) (basis of record)
Paratype USNM 20536, geounit California, identified as Neanthes lighti Hartman, 1938
Holotype USNM 20537, geounit California, identified as Neanthes lighti Hartman, 1938
Holotype USNM 20537, geounit California, identified as Neanthes lighti Hartman, 1938
Altitude
Not stated in original description, apparently from sea level to low height. [details]
Distribution
California (USA): Tomales Creek (Marin County); Stempell [= ?Stemple] Creek (southern Sonoma County); fresh-water ... [details]
Etymology
"I take pleasure in naming the species N. lighti sp. nov. for Professor S. F. Light, who made possible the original ... [details]
Habitat
Sandy mud banks of tidal streams, a few miles inland from their mouths, and in small fresh-water pools along river ... [details]
Type locality
Tomales Creek, Marin County, California, USA (gazetteer estimate 38.2436°, -122.9035°) [details]
Type material
Holotype (USNM 20537) and 8 paratypes (USNM 20536) deposited at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, USA (USNM). [details]
