Moore, J.P. (1902). Descriptions of some new Polynoidae, with a list of other Polychaeta from North Greenland waters. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 54(2), 258-278, plates XIII-XIV.
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Moore, J.P.
1902
Descriptions of some new Polynoidae, with a list of other Polychaeta from North Greenland waters
Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
The Polychaeta of the Arctic regions have been so thoroughly studied and described by a host of able Scandinavian, Dutch, German, English and other European zoologists that the fauna ranks as one of the best known in the world. Although the shores of Greenland have been repeatedly ransacked, especially by the zoologists attached to various exploring expeditions, the waters washing the north and northwest borders of that island have been searched much less thoroughly than those to the south and east.
From the standpoint of geographical distribution it has, therefore, seemed desirable to publish a list of the species contained in three small collections from this region which I have recently had the opportunity of studying. The first consists mainly of well known species of Polynoidae collected by Dr. Benjamin Sharp, in the shallow waters of McCormick Bay, in July, 1891, while a member of the party accompanying Lieutenant Peary to Greenland. The second embodies the results of a few dredge hauls, also in McCormick Bay, made by the Peary Relief Expedition, under the command of Prof. Angelo Heilprin, in August of the following year. This collection is remarkable from the circumstance that, while it contains but twelve species, eleven of which are Polynoidae, four are well characterized new forms. It indicates the richness of the polynoid fauna at this particular spot, and recalls the results of Hensen's study of the annelids of the Norwegian North Atlantic Expedition to the regions about Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. In the following list this collection is indicated by the letters P. R. E. These two collections belong to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. The third collection was made under the direction of Prof. Ortmann of the Princeton University Expedition to North Greenland in July and August, 1899. It is more extensive, both in the number of species represented and in the extent of territory covered, which overlaps McCormick Bay, both north and south, and extends from Godhavn to Cape Sabine, though few collecting stations were made south of Cape York. Some thirty species are comprised in this collection, mostly of forms well known from more southern waters; but several of them have not been previously recorded from North Greenland. None of the species are new, but it is noteworthy that several of the polynoids differ materially from the more typical representatives of their species which occur on the coasts of North America, of Norway, Scotland, etc. Although one cannot safely draw general conclusions from the small amount of material at hand, there seems to be a tendency for the elytra to become rougher and more spinous. In the list of localities, the numerals preceded by the letter 0. indicate the dredging stations of this expedition. The collections of the Academy also include the few Polychaeta remaining of those brought back from southern Greenland by Dr. Hayes in 1860-61, a list of which was published by Stimpson in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for 1863. These also are enumerated in the following list.
