Bhawania

Diagnosis after Perkins (1985). Chrysopetalinae with body broad, depressed and long (to 200 segments). Paleae fan yellow to golden bright, completely imbricate dorsally, exhibiting mid-dorsal line surface smooth. Prostomium rectangular, laterally fused with the anterior segments. Pharynx with a pair of thick stylet jaws. Segment 1 reduced, dorsal and ventral cirri present; segment 2 reduced and fused with segment 3, dorsal cirri present, ventral cirri absent; segment 3 reduced, dorsal and ventral cirri present. Posterior segments with dorsal and ventral cirri. Dorsal cirri with cirrophores shorts, cirrostyles retractile into cirrophores. Notochaetae symmetrical with internal ribs and horizontal striae; at the apex, the horizontal striae and internal ribs form a fragile reticulate surface. Main paleae with raised ribs with flattened denticles. Pygidium rounded with two anal cirri, with a medial anal cone.

Remarks. Schmarda (1861) erected the genus Bhawania and included B. myrialepis described from Sri Lanka as type species. Then, Grube (1868) identified an apparent new form of chrysopetalid and proposed Psectra and described P. obscura (= Bhawania obscura) as its type species; he argued that although this new genus was close to Bhawania, Psectra lacked dorsal cirri; this was an honest mistake advocated to the retraction faculty of the dorsal cirri. Later, Hartman (1959: 127) reassigned Psectra to Bhawania as a minor synonymy. Perkins (1985) redefined the genus Bhawania sensu lato including details of the first segments, prostomial appendages, and paleae. In the same study, he added notes of some species that should be referred as Bhawania. Since then, Watson (1986; 1998) has erected new genera from forms previously referred as Bhawania (e. g. Paleaequor Watson Russell, 1986, Arichlidon Watson Russell, 1998). Traditionally, the genus Bhawania has been recognized as worms with numerous segments, with a small retracted prostomium and lack of nuchal organ (Fauchald 1977 b). These features are still important; however, other features to be considered are: long body with depressed dorsum; dorsum completely covered by bright yellow paleae; paleae fan markedly imbricated over the mid-dorsal line, main paleae with raised ribs with flattened denticles, and all notochaetal groups with a delicate transparent reticular distal end. Bhawania specimens are found inhabiting coarse sand, volcanic rock, dead coral, shell fragments, algae, bryozoans colonies, tubes of sabellariids and chaetopterids, on the dorsal surface of an amphinomid, galleries of coral-boring sipunculans and sponges (Morgado & Amaral 1981; Perkins 1985; Watson & Faulwetter 2017; Cruz-Gómez & Bastida-Zavala 2018).

Type species: Bhawania myrialepis Schmarda, 1861, by monotypy.