''Lepidasthenia'' is a genus of marine

Polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine Annelid, annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called c ...

worms belonging to the family ''

Polynoidae Polynoidae is a family (biology), family of marine Polychaete worms known as "scale worms" due to the scale-like elytron (Annelida), elytra on the dorsal surface. Almost 900 species are currently recognised belonging to 9 subfamilies and 167 gen ...

'' (scale worms). Species of ''Lepidasthenia'' are found worldwide to depths of about 1200 m but are more common in shallower water.

Description

''Lepidasthenia'' species are long-bodied scale worms with up to 150 segments and 50 to 100 or more pairs of

elytra An elytron (; ; : elytra, ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometime ...

. The elytra are smooth and lack marginal papillae. Elytra are small, do not overlap, and leave the dorsal region of the body mostly uncovered; on the posterior region there is one pair of elytra every three segments. The lateral antennae are inserted terminally on the distal ends of the bilobed

prostomium The prostomium (From Ancient Greek, meaning "before the mouth"; : prostomia; sometimes also called the "acron") is the Cephalization, cephalized first body segment in an annelid worm's body at the anterior end. It is in front of (but does not in ...

. The lateral and median antennae are smooth. The first segment is without chaetae.

Notopodia In invertebrates, the term parapodium (Greek language, Gr. ''para'', beyond or beside + ''podia'', feet; : parapodia) refers to lateral outgrowths or protrusions from the body. Parapodia are predominantly found in Annelid, annelids, where they ar ...

are reduced and

notochaetae A chaeta or cheta (; ) is a chitinous bristle or seta found on annelid worms, although the term is also frequently used to describe similar structures in other invertebrates such as arthropods. Polychaete annelids (''polychaeta'' literally mean ...

are few or more often absent. The

neuropodia In invertebrates, the term parapodium ( Gr. ''para'', beyond or beside + ''podia'', feet; : parapodia) refers to lateral outgrowths or protrusions from the body. Parapodia are predominantly found in annelids, where they are paired, unjointed late ...

are deeply divided vertically into anterior and posterior lobes. The

neurochaetae A chaeta or cheta (; ) is a chitinous bristle or seta found on annelid worms, although the term is also frequently used to describe similar structures in other invertebrates such as arthropods. Polychaete annelids (''polychaeta'' literally mean ...

may be bidentate or unidentate and are few. Hanley JR, Burke M (1991) Polychaeta Polynoidae: Scaleworms of the Chesterfield Island and Fairway Reefs, Coral Sea. In: A. Crosnier (ed.), Résultats des Campagnes MUSORSTOM, Volume 8. Mémoires du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle. Série A, Zoologie 151: 9–82.Wehe T (2006) Revision of the scale worms (Polychaeta: Aphroditoidea) occurring in the seas surrounding the Arabian Peninsula. Part I: Polynoidae. Fauna of Arabia 23: 23–197Salazar-Vallejo SI, González NE, Salazar-Silva P (2015) Lepidasthenia loboi sp. n. from Puerto Madryn, Argentina (Polychaeta, Polynoidae). ZooKeys: 21–37. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.546.6175

Biology

''Lepidasthenia'' is one of many genera in the family that contain bioluminescent species.

Species

There are 42 valid species of Lepidasthenia as of September 2020:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3916503 Phyllodocida Polychaete genera Bioluminescent annelids