Species of Scolelepis are bathymetrically widespread in almost all types of substrates (BLAKE 1996), and are the dominant genus of Spionidae in sand-beaches and other near-shore areas.Scolelepis was revised by MACIOLEK (1987), who based the description of the genus on the morphology of the hooded hooks and proposed the establishment of two subgenera, Scolelepis and Parascolelepis. Species with uni-, bi-or tridentate hooks should be included within the subgenus Scolelepis Blainville, 1828, whereas those with multidentate hooks are included within Parascolelepis Maciolek, 1987. This division into two subgenera has been adopted by several authors (e.g., BLAKE 1996, DELGADO-BLAS 2006, DELGADO-BLAS et al. 2009 Orensanz & Gianuca, 1974; Parascolelepis texana Foster, 1971(AMARAL et al. 2012) and P. quinquedentata Hartmann Schröder, 1965(LANA et al. 2006. The overlap of characteristics among different species, and the great variability within and among populations have lead to difficulties in species diagnostics, increasing the risk of misidentification. For example, BOLIVAR & LANA (1986) and MACCORD & AMARAL (2005), observing the considerable morphological variability in the material referred to as S. squamata, a widely recorded species, proposed that it might be considered as a species complex. Similar variability has been reported in other studies. ZHOU et al. (2009), after studying Scolelepis species on northern Chinese beaches , pointed out that, after carefully reviewing the material previously described as S. squamata, they were describing it as a new species, Scolelepis daphoinos. DELGADO-BLAS (2006), studying the genus in the Gran Caribbean region, revalidated four species based on the shape of the notopodial lamellae, viz., S. goodbodyi (Jones, 1962), S. minuta Treadwell, 1939, S. acuta (Treadwell, 1914 and S. agilis Verrill, 1873, thereby removing them from synonymy with S. squamata Müller, 1806. Furthermore, FOSTER (1971 and LIGHT (1977) also discussed the considerable morphological variation of S. squamata, for instance, the presence and degree of development of a notch on the median neuropodia, and the presence or absence of notopodial hooded hooks within a single population of the species. Hence there is a perceivable difficulty in establishing the identity of this particular species, and also of the genus Scolelepis.In this study, specimens of Scolelepis collected off the Brazilian coast were examined. The present paper is a contribution to the knowledge of the genus in Brazil. It presents new records of two species, Scolelepis acuta (Treadwell, 1914) and S. andradei Delgado-Blas, Díaz & Liñero-Arana, 2009, and evidence of an expanded range for two species: S. lighti Delgado-Blas, 2006 and S. goodbodyi Jones, 1962.
MATERIAL AND METHODSThe specimens analyzed in this study were collected from 15 beaches along the coast of Brazil. Sediment samples, collected with a shovel, were processed with 0.5 mm mesh sieves.
Scolelepis