WoRMS name details
Polydora aggregata Blake, 1969
157535 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:157535)
unaccepted > junior subjective synonym (subjective synonym)
Species
marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
recent only
Blake, James A. (1969). Reproduction and larval development of Polydora from Northern New England (Polychaeta: spionidae). <em>Ophelia.</em> 7(1): 1-63., available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00785326.1969.10419288
page(s): 16, figures 12-14; note: Premature publication of the Polydora aggregata binominal based on the egg-capsule larvae, without type designation, with later description and types published in full in 1971. [details] Available for editors
[request]
page(s): 16, figures 12-14; note: Premature publication of the Polydora aggregata binominal based on the egg-capsule larvae, without type designation, with later description and types published in full in 1971. [details] Available for editors
[request]
Note Lamoine Beach, State Park; Boothbay Harbor...
From editor or global species database
Type locality Lamoine Beach, State Park; Boothbay Harbor region, Ocean Point, Maine. Geolocation not stated.Gazetter location of the beach is 44.491 N, -68.3192 W [details]
Etymology There is no etymology statement. However, Blake describes and illustrates (figures 5-6) that "P. aggregata occurs in dense...
Status The Polydora aggregata binominal was prematurely published based on larvae reared from egg-capsules. There was no type...
Distribution middle North Shore (from Sept- Iles to Cape Whittle, including the Mingan Islands)
Etymology There is no etymology statement. However, Blake describes and illustrates (figures 5-6) that "P. aggregata occurs in dense mats on and between rocks, exposed at low tide (Figure 5a). The mats are so thick in some areas they appear to stabilize the beach." Thus Polydora aggregata is named (feminine suffix adjective) for its density of occurrence on Lamoine Beach at the time. [details]
Status The Polydora aggregata binominal was prematurely published based on larvae reared from egg-capsules. There was no type...
Status The Polydora aggregata binominal was prematurely published based on larvae reared from egg-capsules. There was no type designation, but an in-text comment and reference list item referred to an in-press article in the Bulletin of Marine Science intended to establish the name. This description of the species and types was delayed in publication but eventually published in full in 1971 in a different journal (Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology) and with an altered title. The item in the reference list is a dead end. Code article 72.4.1 allows for a type series to include specimens by bibliographic reference, but it would be an extreme interpretation to consider this allows any unpublished future data to be included in a type series. Consequently the species dates from the larval description in 1969, with any types being syntypes from the larval specimens museum-deposited at that time, if any. The later established "holotype" of 1971 cannot be the holotype as holotype-status types can only be established in the original article which names the species. Type designation requires a further nomenclatural act to resolve the issue. [G.Read, 20/01/2026 & 27/10/26 (added 'bibliographic reference' remarks)] [details]
Distribution middle North Shore (from Sept- Iles to Cape Whittle, including the Mingan Islands)
Distribution middle North Shore (from Sept- Iles to Cape Whittle, including the Mingan Islands) [details]
Read, G.; Fauchald, K. (Ed.) (2026). World Polychaeta Database. Polydora aggregata Blake, 1969. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=157535 on 2026-10-31
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Nomenclature
original description
Blake, James A. (1969). Reproduction and larval development of Polydora from Northern New England (Polychaeta: spionidae). <em>Ophelia.</em> 7(1): 1-63., available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00785326.1969.10419288
page(s): 16, figures 12-14; note: Premature publication of the Polydora aggregata binominal based on the egg-capsule larvae, without type designation, with later description and types published in full in 1971. [details] Available for editors [request]
page(s): 16, figures 12-14; note: Premature publication of the Polydora aggregata binominal based on the egg-capsule larvae, without type designation, with later description and types published in full in 1971. [details] Available for editors
[request]Taxonomy
source of synonymy
Radashevsky, Vasily I. (2026). Redescription of Polydora limicola Annenkova, 1934, with review of the Polydora ciliata species complex (Annelida: Spionidae). <em>Zootaxa.</em> 5894(1): 1-23., available online at https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5894.1.1
note: Polydora aggregata Blake, 1969 is included in the synonymy of Polydora limicola Annenkova, 1934 [details] Available for editors [request]
redescription Blake, J. A. (1971). Revision of the genus <i>Polydora</i> from the east coast of North America (Polychaeta: Spionidae. <em>Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology.</em> 75: 1-32., available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.75
page(s): 8 , figures 4-6; note: "REMARKS.—The name Polydora aggregata was prematurely introduced in a larval study (Blake, 1969b). The adult description is given here for the first time." [details]
note: Polydora aggregata Blake, 1969 is included in the synonymy of Polydora limicola Annenkova, 1934 [details] Available for editors
[request]redescription Blake, J. A. (1971). Revision of the genus <i>Polydora</i> from the east coast of North America (Polychaeta: Spionidae. <em>Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology.</em> 75: 1-32., available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.75
page(s): 8 , figures 4-6; note: "REMARKS.—The name Polydora aggregata was prematurely introduced in a larval study (Blake, 1969b). The adult description is given here for the first time." [details]
Other
additional source
Brunel, P., L. Bosse & G. Lamarche. (1998). Catalogue of the marine invertebrates of the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. <em>Canadian Special Publication of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 126.</em> 405 pp. (look up in IMIS)
note: Checklist listing [details] Available for editors [request]
additional source Fauchald, K.; Granados-Barba, A.; Solís-Weiss, V. (2009). Polychaeta (Annelida) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 751–788 in D.L. Felder and D.K. Camp (eds.). <em>Gulf of Mexico. Origin, Waters, and Biota. Volume 1, Biodiversity.</em> Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Texas., available online at https://books.google.es/books?id=CphA8hiwaFIC&lpg=PR1&pg=PA751 [details]
note: Checklist listing [details] Available for editors
[request]additional source Fauchald, K.; Granados-Barba, A.; Solís-Weiss, V. (2009). Polychaeta (Annelida) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 751–788 in D.L. Felder and D.K. Camp (eds.). <em>Gulf of Mexico. Origin, Waters, and Biota. Volume 1, Biodiversity.</em> Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Texas., available online at https://books.google.es/books?id=CphA8hiwaFIC&lpg=PR1&pg=PA751 [details]
Present Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
From editor or global species database
Etymology There is no etymology statement. However, Blake describes and illustrates (figures 5-6) that "P. aggregata occurs in dense mats on and between rocks, exposed at low tide (Figure 5a). The mats are so thick in some areas they appear to stabilize the beach." Thus Polydora aggregata is named (feminine suffix adjective) for its density of occurrence on Lamoine Beach at the time. [details]Status The Polydora aggregata binominal was prematurely published based on larvae reared from egg-capsules. There was no type designation, but an in-text comment and reference list item referred to an in-press article in the Bulletin of Marine Science intended to establish the name. This description of the species and types was delayed in publication but eventually published in full in 1971 in a different journal (Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology) and with an altered title. The item in the reference list is a dead end. Code article 72.4.1 allows for a type series to include specimens by bibliographic reference, but it would be an extreme interpretation to consider this allows any unpublished future data to be included in a type series. Consequently the species dates from the larval description in 1969, with any types being syntypes from the larval specimens museum-deposited at that time, if any. The later established "holotype" of 1971 cannot be the holotype as holotype-status types can only be established in the original article which names the species. Type designation requires a further nomenclatural act to resolve the issue. [G.Read, 20/01/2026 & 27/10/26 (added 'bibliographic reference' remarks)] [details]
Type locality Lamoine Beach, State Park; Boothbay Harbor region, Ocean Point, Maine. Geolocation not stated.Gazetter location of the beach is 44.491 N, -68.3192 W [details]
Type specimen Although the 1971 Blake specimens are labelled as types by the holding museum and by Radashevsky (2026) in his material examined this is permissible for convenience only. They are not types. As noted earlier the Blake 1971 "holotype" cannot be a type, as the name was validly published unintentionally prematurely by Blake (1969) although with easy-to-say hindsight this naming was not necessary and would have been preventable at the time. Radashevsky (2026: 14) discusses this in a section titled "The relationship between Polydora limicola and Polydora aggregata". He correctly states "that the subsequent designation of a holotype and paratypes by Blake (1971) does not conform to the provision of ICZN (1999: Article 73.1.3), which requires that “The holotype of a new nominal species-group taxon can only be fixed in the original publication". For reasons unknown he then incorrectly states "all type specimens designated by Blake (1971) should be considered syntypes." Only the larval individuals of the premature original description in 1969 could be syntypes and as far as is known they no longer exist. One solution would be to designate a neotype from the 1971 specimens, as they are certain to be Blake's Polydora aggregata. However, this is no longer important for nomenclature as P. aggregata is now (2026) placed by Radashevsky as a synonym of P. limicola after he examined the 1971 specimens and the syntypes of P. limicola. Blake (1971 had originally noted that "Polydora aggregata is closely related to P. limicola (Annenkova, 1954). The two species are similar in habitat and morphology." The difference was said to be that P. limicola had a side tooth on the chaetiger 5 spines, whereas P aggregata had a flanged spine. [G.Read, 23/10/2026] [details]
Unreviewed
Distribution middle North Shore (from Sept- Iles to Cape Whittle, including the Mingan Islands) [details]Habitat infralittoral of the Gulf and estuary [details]
