New records of Diopatra marocensis (Annelida: Onuphidae) from northern Spain

Abstract

Here we are presenting the first record of D. marocensis in Spanish waters – the Bay of Biscay – constituting the northernmost distribution for this species, where it occurs sympatrically with D. neapolitana. We are giving brief notes on the relative abundance of the two species at the new locality, compare the depths and substrate preferences of D. marocensis at its Moroccan, Portuguese and Spanish collecting sites, and report the presence of Epistylis sp., a peritricous protozoan on the gills of D. marocensis, presenting a newly recorded symbiotic association.