WoRMS source details
Day, John H. (1951). The polychaete fauna of South Africa. Part 1. The intertidal and estuarine Polychaeta of Natal and Mosambique. Annals of the Natal Museum. 12(1): 1-67.
49608
Day, John H.
1951
The polychaete fauna of South Africa. Part 1. The intertidal and estuarine Polychaeta of Natal and Mosambique
Annals of the Natal Museum
12(1): 1-67
Publication
World Polychaeta Database (WPolyD). Digitisation was online at journal but is currently (2017) absent
Available for editors 
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[From introduction:]
In 1934 I made a catalogue of the Polychaeta which had been recorded by various authors from South Africa, Angola, Mosambique and Madagascar, as a working basis for a future study of the South African Polychaet fauna. The total number of species in the catalogue was 356, but many of the records have since proved to be synonyms, and within recent years a vast amount of new material has been accumulated so that the catalogue now needs drastic revision. Many of the collections were made by myself and other members of Professor T. A. Stephenson's team while making a survey of the intertidal zone, and I have also worked through the collections in the various South African museums. I am indebted to Professor C. J. van der Horst, of Witwatersrand University, for a collection from Inhaca Island on the coast of Portuguese East Africa, to Dr. R. F. Lawrence, of the Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg, to Mr. E. C. Chubb, of the Durban Museum, and to Dr. D. W. Ewer, of the University of Natal, for intertidal material from Natal, and to Dr. C. van Hille, of Rhodes University College, Grahamstown, for a collection from Port Alfred. Since the war a survey of South African estuaries has been started by the University of Capetown, and the Polychaet material is being identified as it comes in. Dredged material is also coming in from the shallow waters of False Bay, Table Bay and Saldanha Bay, and from the deeper waters all round South Africa. This vast amount of material has taken, and will take, a long time to identify, and I feel that if I wait until the end of the present collecting programme before I start publishing, the results may never get into print. I therefore propose to write up the Polychaeta in parts representing faunistic areas and then, as new records begin to tail off, to write a monograph containing a new catalogue and a key to South African species. At the same time I hope to deal with the ecology of the group. This treatment will entail a certain amount of duplication since the same species will turn up again and again, but this is unavoidable, and in any case I will cut down my remarks to a minimum.
In 1934 I made a catalogue of the Polychaeta which had been recorded by various authors from South Africa, Angola, Mosambique and Madagascar, as a working basis for a future study of the South African Polychaet fauna. The total number of species in the catalogue was 356, but many of the records have since proved to be synonyms, and within recent years a vast amount of new material has been accumulated so that the catalogue now needs drastic revision. Many of the collections were made by myself and other members of Professor T. A. Stephenson's team while making a survey of the intertidal zone, and I have also worked through the collections in the various South African museums. I am indebted to Professor C. J. van der Horst, of Witwatersrand University, for a collection from Inhaca Island on the coast of Portuguese East Africa, to Dr. R. F. Lawrence, of the Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg, to Mr. E. C. Chubb, of the Durban Museum, and to Dr. D. W. Ewer, of the University of Natal, for intertidal material from Natal, and to Dr. C. van Hille, of Rhodes University College, Grahamstown, for a collection from Port Alfred. Since the war a survey of South African estuaries has been started by the University of Capetown, and the Polychaet material is being identified as it comes in. Dredged material is also coming in from the shallow waters of False Bay, Table Bay and Saldanha Bay, and from the deeper waters all round South Africa. This vast amount of material has taken, and will take, a long time to identify, and I feel that if I wait until the end of the present collecting programme before I start publishing, the results may never get into print. I therefore propose to write up the Polychaeta in parts representing faunistic areas and then, as new records begin to tail off, to write a monograph containing a new catalogue and a key to South African species. At the same time I hope to deal with the ecology of the group. This treatment will entail a certain amount of duplication since the same species will turn up again and again, but this is unavoidable, and in any case I will cut down my remarks to a minimum.
Africa
East Africa
South Africa
South Atlantic
East Africa
South Africa
South Atlantic
Systematics, Taxonomy
Ammotrypane longicaudata Caullery, 1944 accepted as Ophelina longicaudata (Caullery, 1944) (source of synonymy)
Armandia longicaudata (Caullery, 1944) accepted as Ophelina longicaudata (Caullery, 1944) (basis of record)
Chloeia natalensis Day, 1951 accepted as Chloeia flava (Pallas, 1766) (original description)
Dendronereides zululandica Day, 1951 (original description)
Hydroides bifurcata Pixell, 1913 (new combination reference)
Hydroides bifurcatus Pixell, 1913 accepted as Hydroides bifurcata Pixell, 1913 (new combination reference)
Lepidonotus natalensis Day, 1951 (original description)
Lepidonotus platycirrus Day, 1951 accepted as Lepidonotus glaucus (Peters, 1854) (original description)
Lumbrinereis tetraura (Schmarda, 1861) accepted as Scoletoma tetraura (Schmarda, 1861) (source of synonymy)
Nicomache mossambica Day, 1951 (original description)
Onuphis quinquedens Day, 1951 accepted as Heptaceras quinquedens (Day, 1951) (original description)
Pharyngeovalvata Day, 1951 accepted as Odontosyllis Claparède, 1863 (original description)
Pharyngeovalvata natalensis Day, 1951 accepted as Odontosyllis ctenostoma Claparède, 1868 (original description)
Pista brevibranchia Caullery, 1915 (additional source)
Pista foliigera Caullery, 1915 (additional source)
Polynoe inhaca Day, 1951 accepted as Pseudopolynoe inhaca (Day, 1951) (original description)
Salmacina dysteri incrustans Claparède, 1870 (additional source)
Syllis nigropharyngea Day, 1951 accepted as Syllis vittata Grube, 1840 (original description)
Terebellobranchia Day, 1951 (original description)
Terebellobranchia natalensis Day, 1951 (original description)
Thelepus setosus africana Day, 1951 accepted as Thelepus plagiostoma (Schmarda, 1861) accepted as Terebella plagiostoma Schmarda, 1861 (original description)
Armandia longicaudata (Caullery, 1944) accepted as Ophelina longicaudata (Caullery, 1944) (basis of record)
Chloeia natalensis Day, 1951 accepted as Chloeia flava (Pallas, 1766) (original description)
Dendronereides zululandica Day, 1951 (original description)
Hydroides bifurcata Pixell, 1913 (new combination reference)
Hydroides bifurcatus Pixell, 1913 accepted as Hydroides bifurcata Pixell, 1913 (new combination reference)
Lepidonotus natalensis Day, 1951 (original description)
Lepidonotus platycirrus Day, 1951 accepted as Lepidonotus glaucus (Peters, 1854) (original description)
Lumbrinereis tetraura (Schmarda, 1861) accepted as Scoletoma tetraura (Schmarda, 1861) (source of synonymy)
Nicomache mossambica Day, 1951 (original description)
Onuphis quinquedens Day, 1951 accepted as Heptaceras quinquedens (Day, 1951) (original description)
Pharyngeovalvata Day, 1951 accepted as Odontosyllis Claparède, 1863 (original description)
Pharyngeovalvata natalensis Day, 1951 accepted as Odontosyllis ctenostoma Claparède, 1868 (original description)
Pista brevibranchia Caullery, 1915 (additional source)
Pista foliigera Caullery, 1915 (additional source)
Polynoe inhaca Day, 1951 accepted as Pseudopolynoe inhaca (Day, 1951) (original description)
Salmacina dysteri incrustans Claparède, 1870 (additional source)
Syllis nigropharyngea Day, 1951 accepted as Syllis vittata Grube, 1840 (original description)
Terebellobranchia Day, 1951 (original description)
Terebellobranchia natalensis Day, 1951 (original description)
Thelepus setosus africana Day, 1951 accepted as Thelepus plagiostoma (Schmarda, 1861) accepted as Terebella plagiostoma Schmarda, 1861 (original description)
Inhaca Island for Pista brevibranchia Caullery, 1915
Port St Johns for Pista foliigera Caullery, 1915
Port St Johns for Pista foliigera Caullery, 1915
Syntype NHMUK 1961.1.16.19, geounit South African part of the Indian Ocean, identified as Syllis nigropharyngea Day, 1951
Paratype NHMUK 1961.16.16-17, geounit South African part of the Indian Ocean, identified as Pharyngeovalvata natalensis Day, 1951
Holotype NHMUK 1961.16.18, geounit South African part of the Indian Ocean, identified as Pharyngeovalvata natalensis Day, 1951
Paratype NHMUK 1961.16.16-17, geounit South African part of the Indian Ocean, identified as Pharyngeovalvata natalensis Day, 1951
Holotype NHMUK 1961.16.18, geounit South African part of the Indian Ocean, identified as Pharyngeovalvata natalensis Day, 1951
Diagnosis
Palps not fused, an occipital flap present, tentacles and dorsal cirri indistinctly moniliform, ventral cirri ... [details]
Distribution
Indian Ocean, South Africa, Natal Province, Tongaat Beach. [details]
Distribution
Indian Ocean, South Africa, Natal Province, near Durban. [details]
Etymology
The name of the genus, Pharyngeovalvata makes reference to the presence of a valve in the pharynx, formed by the ... [details]
Etymology
The specific epithet natalensis makes reference to the type locality, the Natal Province (South Africa). [details]
Etymology
The specific epithet nigropharyngea makes reference to the characteristic pharynx with a ring of black pigment ... [details]
Nomenclature
In the original description the name of the species also appears incorrectly spelled as Syllis nigrophryngea. [details]
Type locality
Western Indian Ocean, South Africa, Natal, Tongaat Beach (geocoordinates not provided, but estimated with gazetteer ... [details]
Type locality
Western Indian Ocean, South Africa, Natal, near Durban, Tongaat Beach (approx. lat. -29.987211, long. 30.963764º) ... [details]
Type material
Day (1951) refers the collection of 2 specimens of Syllis nigropharyngea from Tongaat Beach, and one from Reunion ... [details]
