A new species of Perinereis (Polychaeta, Nereididae) from Florida, USA, with a key to all Perinereis from the American continent

Abstract. Specimens belonging to a new species of Perinereis Kinberg, 1865 were collected fromnatural oyster reefs in an estuarine environmenton Florida’s southwest coast. The genus Perinereis includes more than 70 species, of which, Perinereis aibuhitensis (Grube, 1878), Perinereis brevicirrata (Treadwell, 1920), Perinereis camiguinoides (Augener, 1922), Perinereis jascooki Gibbs, 1972, Perinereis kuwaitensis Mohammad, 1970, Perinereis singaporiensis (Grube, 1878), Perinereis vancaurica (Ehlers, 1868) and the new species have two short bars on Area VI and notopodial dorsal ligules that are not greatly expanded. The most geographically close species is Perinereis brevicirrata. The new species can be distinguished from Perinereis brevicirrata by the absence of a notopodial prechaetal lobe, Area V with 3 cones in a triangle, and Area VII-VIII with two well-defined rows of 33 paragnaths, the basal row having longer paragnaths in relation to the distal ones. The new species resembles Perinereis singaporiensis based on the absence of notopodial prechaetal lobe; however, the two species differ in some morphological characteristics such as tentacular cirri length, shape of dorsal notopodial ligules, and falciger blades. A key to all American species of Perinereis is included.