Sabellariidae 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 marine

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 ...

worms in the suborder

Sabellida Sabellida is an order of annelid worms in the class Polychaeta 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 cal ...

. The worms live in tubes made of sand and are

filter feeder Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feedin ...

s and

detritivore Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders, or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrate ...

Characteristics

Members of this family live in tubes made of sand and shell fragments cemented together and attached to rocks. Some species are colonial and the multitude of their tubes may create hummocks and even reefs. The top of the tube can be closed by an operculum formed by several rings of bristles on the head of the worm. The head also bears several fine feeding

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

s and a pair of small palps. The thoracic section of the body has 3 or 4 segments with paddle-like capillary bristles. The abdominal section has many segments each with hooked bristles on raised lobes. There are a pair of gills on each of the thoracic segments and on the front abdominal segments. The rear of the body is bent forward along a groove in the midsection of the body.

Genera

*'' Alveolaria'' *'' Bathysabellaria'' *'' Branchio'' *'' Centrocorone'' *'' Cryptopomatus'' *'' Gesaia'' *'' Gunnarea'' *'' Hermella'' *''

Idanthyrsus Idanthyrsus (Ancient Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ) is the name of a Scythian king who lived in the 6th century BCE, when he faced an invasion of his country by the Persian Achaemenid Empire. Name and etymology The name () is the Hellenized fo ...

'' Kinberg, 1876 *'' Lygdamis'' Kinberg, 1867 *'' Mariansabellaria'' *'' Monorchos'' *'' Neosabellaria'' Kirtley, 1994 *'' Paraidanthyrsus'' *'' Phalacrostemma'' Marenzeller, 1895 *'' Phragmatopoma'' Mörch, 1863 *'' Sabellaria'' Savigny, 1818 *'' Tetreres''

Characteristics

Genera

References

Further reading