A translation of Bishop Gunnerus' description of the species Hydroides norvegicus with comments on his Serpula triqvetra

Abstract

In 1768 J.E. Gunnerus first described the species Hydroides norvegicus (Polychaeta, Serpulidae), the type of the genus Hydroides which today includes close to 90 species worldwide and is the largest serpulid genus. This description has therefore great value as a type description, but as it is written in an old-fashioned Danish/Norwegian language with a font which is hard to interpret, the description is rather inaccessible to most polychaetologists. This paper presents a translation of Gunnerus’ description of H. norvegicus and a brief review of the present day status of the species. Comments on Gunnerus’ description of Serpula triqvetra are also included, as well as references to his correspondence with Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnæus regarding the species in question.