A new species of Poecilochaetus from Rodrigues, Indian OceanStaff: Andrew Mackie [and C. Santos, Instituto de Biologia, Rio de Janeiro]
A new species was discovered from Rodrigues, Indian Ocean, collected on fieldwork as part of International workshop organised by Dr P.G. Oliver from the Museum under the Royal Society and Royal Geographical Society's Shoals of Capricorn project, 2001.
A scientific paper will describe the new species and incorporate redescriptions of some other poorly known species — particularly Poecilochaetus exmouthensis (Australia) and Poecilochaetus serpens honiarae (Solomon Islands). Comparisons will be made with Poecilochaetus serpens from UK waters, using material collected from near type locality of Plymouth. This work will build on previous publications describing 5 new species of Poecilochaetus (Mackie 1990: Hong Kong, and Santos & Mackie 2008 in press: Brazil). This will contribute to a new phylogenetic analysis of poecilochaetids.