This species is commonly regarded as having a cosmopolitan distribution. Thorough examination of specimens however casts doubt on this as there are at least three species in Northern Europe alone that were before mistakingly identified as Melinna cristata.
Mackie & Pleijel (1995: pages 104-111, figures 1-3) provide a thorough redescription of Melinna cristata adding valuable information to the original description and comparing the diagnostic features to the other two similar species in northern Europe (table 1).
The original types were collected in Norway, Bergen or Finnmark (not specified) but this material seems to be lost. Mackie & Pleijel revised the Melinna cristata species complex and designated a neotype from Norway, Hjeltefjord.
“Melinna cristata (Sars. 1851)
Plate XXVI, figs. 4, 5
Melinna cristata Ehlers, 1908, p. 144. Near Bouvet Island, in 457 m.
Monro, 1930, p. 181. Cumberland West Bay, South Georgia, in 110 m.
Diagnosis: Length of body 65 mm; width 8 mm; segments number 64. Prostomium trilobed. Branchiae number 4 pairs, those of a side basally fused. Crest of fifth segment with 7 to 15 crenulations (fig. 4). Large dorsal hooks behind branchial bases, with sharply recurved tips (fig. 5). Tube long, thick, covered with black mud.
Distribution: Arctic boreal, north and south Atlantic, South Georgia, and Antarctica; in moderate depths.”
(Hartman, 1966)
Melinna cristata is een borstelworm uit de familie Ampharetidae. Het lichaam van de worm bestaat uit een kop, een cilindrisch, gesegmenteerd lichaam en een staartstukje. De kop bestaat uit een prostomium (gedeelte voor de mondopening) en een peristomium (gedeelte rond de mond) en draagt gepaarde aanhangsels (palpen, antennen en cirri).
Melinna cristata werd in 1851 voor het eerst wetenschappelijk beschreven door M. Sars.
Bronnen, noten en/of referenties
Melinna cristata é uma espécie de anelídeo pertencente à família Ampharetidae.
A autoridade científica da espécie é M. Sars, tendo sido descrita no ano de 1851.
Trata-se de uma espécie presente no território português, incluindo a sua zona económica exclusiva.
Melinna cristata é uma espécie de anelídeo pertencente à família Ampharetidae.
A autoridade científica da espécie é M. Sars, tendo sido descrita no ano de 1851.
Trata-se de uma espécie presente no território português, incluindo a sua zona económica exclusiva.
