The taxonomic status of Serpula cf. Columbiana Johnson, 1901 from the American and Asian coasts of the North Pacific Ocean (Polychaeta:Serpulidae)

Taxonomic studies over the last decade have consistently indicated that the cosmopolitan status of Serpula vermicularis Linnaeus, 1767 is unjustified. A previous morphological survey (Kupriyanova and Rzhavsky 1993) has documented that Serpula columbiana Johnson, 1901 from the Russian Far-Eastern Seas is distinct from Serpula vermicularis from the Norwegian Sea. As a result, the older name, of S. columbiana was re-established for the Russian Far-Eastern population, thereby separating it from synonymy with S. vermicularis. The purpose of the present study was to verify the identity of the Serpula species from the Russian Far-East with Serpula columbiana s. str. Johnson, 1901 that was originally described from the North American Pacific coast. It is shown that at least three regionally distributed species were previously confused under the specific name Serpula vermicularis. S. vermicularis s. str. (Norwegian Sea), S. columbiana (West coast of USA), and S. sp. A (Russian coast of the Sea of Japan). The last species is described herein as Serpula uschakovi n. sp. The usefulness of various taxonomic characters for the resolution of Serpula taxonomy is discussed.