During the project "Fauna Ibérica", established to develop a complete study of the Iberian fauna, several new polychaete species belonging to the family Syllidae were found and we describe here three new species included in the genus
Syllis.
Syllis parapari sp. nov. is characterized by the presence of both pseudospiniger and falciger compound chaetae, short and spindle-shaped dorsal cirri on midbody parapodia and posterior aciculae with an oblique tip and a subdistal knob.
S. pontxioi sp. nov. is characterized by very short antennae, tentacular and dorsal cirri; by the shape of midbody and posterior chaetal blades, very short and with an enlarged distal tooth; by stout posterior aciculae, with a slightly curved tip.
S. jorgei sp. nov. is characterized by very long spines on the cutting edge of falciger blades, the distal ones longer than the terminal tooth, by the shape of aciculae with subdistal knobs and acute tips. These three species have been previously reported for the Iberian fauna as
Syllis cornuta,
S. gerlachi, and
S. lutea. However, after comparison with a recent re-description of these species, the authors conclude that the species studied here are three new species.
