Phyllodocidae is a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of
polychaete
Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made ...
worms. Worms in this family live on the seabed and may burrow under the sediment.
Characteristics
Members of the Phyllodocidae are characterised by an eversible
pharynx
The pharynx (plural: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the mouth and nasal cavity, and above the oesophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates, though its st ...
and leaf-like dorsal
cirri. The head has a pair of antennae at the front, a pair of ventral palps and a single median antenna known as a "nuchal papilla". There is a pair of nuchal organs and there may or may not be a pair of eyes. The first two or three body segments may be part-fused and bear up to four pairs of tentacular cirri. The remaining body segments each bear leaf-like dorsal and ventral cirri, the dorsal ones being larger. The
parapodia
In invertebrates, the term parapodium ( Gr. ''para'', beyond or beside + ''podia'', feet; plural: parapodia) refers to lateral outgrowths or protrusions from the body. Parapodia are predominantly found in annelids, where they are paired, unjointed ...
are uniramous or biramous, and
chaeta
A chaeta or cheta (from Greek χαίτη “crest, mane, flowing hair"; plural: chaetae) is a chitinous bristle or seta found in annelid worms, (although the term is also frequently used to describe similar structures in other invertebrates such ...
e are present on all but the first segment.
Genera
The
World Register of Marine Species includes the following
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
:
[
*Subfamily Eteoninae Bergström, 1914
**Genus '' Eteone'' Savigny, 1818
**Genus '' Eulalia'' Savigny, 1822
**Genus '' Eumida'' Malmgren, 1865
**Genus '' Galapagomystides'' Blake, 1985
**Genus '' Hesionura'' Hartmann-Schröder, 1958
**Genus '' Hypereteone'' Bergström, 1914
**Genus '' Mystides'' Théel, 1879
**Genus '' Protomystides'' Czerniavsky, 1882
**Genus '' Pseudomystides'' Bergström, 1914
**Genus '' Pterocirrus'' Claparède, 1868
**Genus '' Sige'' Malmgren, 1865
*Subfamily Notophyllinae Pleijel, 1991
**Genus '' Austrophyllum'' Bergström, 1914
**Genus '' Clavadoce'' Hartman, 1936
**Genus '' Nereiphylla'' Blainville, 1828
**Genus '' Notophyllum'' Örsted, 1843
*Subfamily Phyllodocinae Örsted, 1843
**Genus '' Chaetoparia'' Malmgren, 1867
**Genus '' Levisettius'' Thompson, 1979 †
**Genus '' Paranaitis'' Southern, 1914
**Genus '' Phyllodoce'' Lamarck, 1818
]
References