WoRMS taxon details
Melythasides Desbruyères, 1978
129171 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:129171)
accepted
Genus
Melythasides laubieri Desbruyères, 1978 (type by original designation)
marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
recent only
masculine
Desbruyères, Daniel. (1978). <i>Melythasides laubieri</i> gen. sp. nov. Ampharetidae (Annélides Polychètes sédentaires) abyssal de la mer de Norvège [<i>Melythasides laubieri</i> gen. sp. nov. Ampharetidae (Annélides Polychètes sédentaires) abyssal species from the Norwegian Sea]. <em>Bulletin du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. Zoologie.</em> 514(353): 231-238., available online at https://bibliotheques.mnhn.fr/medias/doc/EXPLOITATION/IFD/BMZOO_S003_1978_T514_N353/bulletin-du-museum-national-d-histoire-naturelle-zoologie
page(s): 231 [details] Available for editors
[request]
page(s): 231 [details] Available for editors
[request]
Read, G.; Fauchald, K. (Ed.) (2025). World Polychaeta Database. Melythasides Desbruyères, 1978. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=129171 on 2025-04-30
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Nomenclature
original description
Desbruyères, Daniel. (1978). <i>Melythasides laubieri</i> gen. sp. nov. Ampharetidae (Annélides Polychètes sédentaires) abyssal de la mer de Norvège [<i>Melythasides laubieri</i> gen. sp. nov. Ampharetidae (Annélides Polychètes sédentaires) abyssal species from the Norwegian Sea]. <em>Bulletin du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. Zoologie.</em> 514(353): 231-238., available online at https://bibliotheques.mnhn.fr/medias/doc/EXPLOITATION/IFD/BMZOO_S003_1978_T514_N353/bulletin-du-museum-national-d-histoire-naturelle-zoologie
page(s): 231 [details] Available for editors [request]
page(s): 231 [details] Available for editors
[request]Taxonomy
source of synonymy
Holthe, T. (1986). Evolution, systematics, and distribution of the Polychaeta Terebellomorpha, with a catalogue of the taxa and a bibliography. <em>Gunneria.</em> 55: 1-236., available online at http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:331918/FULLTEXT01.pdf
note: superseded synonymy proposed under Melinnampharete [details]
source of synonymy Jirkov, I.A. (2001). [Polychaeta of the Arctic Ocean] (In Russian) Polikhety severnogo Ledovitogo Okeana. Yanus-K Press, Moscow, 632 pp., available online at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259865957_Jirkov_2001_Polychaeta_of_the_North_Polar_Basin
page(s): 474; note: superseded synonymy for Melythasides under Anobothrus [details] Available for editors [request]
status source Jirkov, I. A. (2009). Revision of Ampharetidae (Polychaeta) with modified thoracic notopodia. <i>Invertebrate Zoology</i>. 5(2): 111-132 [text date 2008].
note: continues superseded synonymy of Jirkov (2001) for Melythasides under Anobothrus [details]
status source Chávez-López, Yessica; Alvestad, Tom; Moore, Jenna M. (2025). A review of Anobothrus Levinsen, 1884, restricted, with reinstatement of Anobothrella Hartman, 1967 and Melythasides Desbruyères, 1978, and redescription of seven species (Annelida, Ampharetidae). <em>Zootaxa.</em> 5601(2): 201-245., available online at https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5601.2.1
page(s): 234; note: revalidation of Melythasides out from synonymy to Anobothrus, etc [details] Available for editors [request]
note: superseded synonymy proposed under Melinnampharete [details]
source of synonymy Jirkov, I.A. (2001). [Polychaeta of the Arctic Ocean] (In Russian) Polikhety severnogo Ledovitogo Okeana. Yanus-K Press, Moscow, 632 pp., available online at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259865957_Jirkov_2001_Polychaeta_of_the_North_Polar_Basin
page(s): 474; note: superseded synonymy for Melythasides under Anobothrus [details] Available for editors
[request]status source Jirkov, I. A. (2009). Revision of Ampharetidae (Polychaeta) with modified thoracic notopodia. <i>Invertebrate Zoology</i>. 5(2): 111-132 [text date 2008].
note: continues superseded synonymy of Jirkov (2001) for Melythasides under Anobothrus [details]
status source Chávez-López, Yessica; Alvestad, Tom; Moore, Jenna M. (2025). A review of Anobothrus Levinsen, 1884, restricted, with reinstatement of Anobothrella Hartman, 1967 and Melythasides Desbruyères, 1978, and redescription of seven species (Annelida, Ampharetidae). <em>Zootaxa.</em> 5601(2): 201-245., available online at https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5601.2.1
page(s): 234; note: revalidation of Melythasides out from synonymy to Anobothrus, etc [details] Available for editors
[request]Other
additional source
Bellan, G. (2001). Polychaeta, <i>in</i>: Costello, M.J. <i>et al.</i> (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. <em>Collection Patrimoines Naturels.</em> 50: 214-231. (look up in IMIS)
note: checklist entry [details]
note: checklist entry [details]
From editor or global species database
Grammatical gender Melythasides is masculine gender as '-ides' names are masculine unless otherwise assigned when created. [details]Synonymy Jirkov (2009: 120) explained his synonymy of Melythasides with Anobothrus as follows: "Melythasides Desbruyères, 1978 with the type species M. laubieri Desbruyères, 1978, differs from Anobothrus s.str. only in the number of pairs of branchiae: 3, instead of 4. However, branchial arrangement of different Anobothrus species presents an excellent example of a clinal variation: A. glandularis has all branchiae of equal size and shape, inner pair of branchiae of A. antarctica is slightly slimmer and can be much shorter than the others; the two inner pairs of branchiae of A. gracilis and A. mironovi are normally half as long and slimmer than the rest, and the posterior pair of branchiae of A. patersoni is only slightly bigger than the nephridial papillae. This sequence is quite similar to ontogenetic development of branchiae of A. gracilis and other ampharetids as mentioned above. Melythasides laubieri represents the next point of the cline as a species with completely reduced forth pair of branchiae. So it seems unreasonable to separate M. laubieri into its own monotypic genus based solely on this character. Holthe (1986b) proposed to make Melythasides a junior synonym of Melinnampharete Annenkova, 1937, but we cannot accepted it because Melinnampharete lacks modified notopodia and a different structure of anterior thoracic bands."
Chávez-López et al (2025: 234) revalidate Melythasides on the grounds that "After examining the holotype of M. laubieri, we conclude the presence of three pairs of branchiae with free bases, a pair of dorsal nephridial papillae distinctly separated from each other, and thoracic uncini with 5-6 rows of teeth can be used to distinguish M. laubieri from Anobothrus sensu stricto." [details]
