Notophyllum Örsted, 1843 (Phyllodocidae, Polychaeta) is revised based on all available types and a large number of newly collected specimens. Redescriptions are provided of the seven species considered valid:
N. americanum Verrill, 1885,
N. foliosum (Sars, 1835),
N. imbricatum Moore, 1906,
N. japonicum Marenzeller, 1879,
N. multicirris (Grube, 1878),
N. sagamianum Izuka, 1912 and
N. splendens (Schmarda, 1861).
Notophyllum imajimai sp. n. is described from Japan. Some previously unreported characters are introduced, including a series of proboscis characters, morphology of dorsal cirri and cirrophores, and first appearance of notoaciculae in non-cephalized segments. A parsimony analysis of these taxa is presented based on 20 morphological characters and indicates two well-supported clades:
Notophyllum as traditionally delineated and (
N. foliosum,
N. americanum (
N. imajimai sp. n.,
N. imbricatum)). Characters for distinguishing all species of
Notophyllum are provided in a table. Previous identifications of
Notophyllum species have relied on the number of nuchal lobes; it is demonstrated that extensive intraspecific variation and interspecific overlap complicate the use of this character.
Notophyllum caecum Fauvel, 1913 is referred to as Notophyllinae incertae sedis, and
N. tectum (Chamberlin, 1919) comb. n. and
N. laciniatum Willey, 1905 are referred to as
Notophyllum incertae sedis. Taxa removed from
Notophyllum include
Phyllodoce benedenii (Hansen, 1882) comb. n. and
Sige antarctica (Hartman, 1978) comb. n.
