CLASS POLYCHAETA o Prostomium only

o Prostomium + peristomium
- Bristeworms
o Prostomium
- Diverse, common, often colourful annelids of the
o Peristomium and one or more add.
sea
Segments
- 8000 species, most are burrowers, but some crawl
- Prostomial appendages:
over the bottom or on the surfaces of attached
o Anterior/anterodorsal antennae
organisms
o Anteroventral palps
- Others secrete and occupy tubes
- in many polychaetes, periostomium beas sensory
- Medium-sized worms of less than 10 cm and 2-
tentacular cirri or tentacular palps which are
10 mm in diameter
two long feeding appendages
- Eunice aphroditiois body exceeds 3 m in length
- polychaete pygidium primitively bears one pair of
FORM AND FUNCTION pygidial cirri but some have more than one pair

- Annelids with legs, called parapodia BODY WALL AND TUBES

o Lateral fleshy outgrowths of the body
- body wall is similar to that of annelids in general
wall that may be large and complex or
- unique among annelids, because many secrete
little more than low nubbins or ridges
and occupy a tube
o Each segment bears one pair of
o tube may be open at one or both ends +
parapodia
partially buried in sediment or attached
o Basically biramous, each division is
to surfaces
supported internally by an aciculum
o worm may permanently occupy its tube
chitinous skeletal rod
enlarging it with growth (Chaetopterus
Notopodium - upper division
feather-duster worms)
Neuropodium ventral division
o may abandon the tube and crawl for a
o Parapodial muscles that attach to the
new location and secrete another
acicula move the parapodia
(Diopatra)
o Cirri tentacle-like sensory processes,
o Owenia fusiformis, is able to burrow
project from dorsal base of the
through the sediment in its flexilbe tube
notopodium and from the ventral base of
- tube material is a fibrous protein that has
the neuropodium
appearance and texture of cellophane, parchment
o Notopodia and neuropodia assume
or silk
various shapes in different taxa and may
o foreign material is often incorporated
be subdivided into several lobes or even
into the wall of the tube for strength,
greatly reduced
camouflage and food
o Well-developed parapodium is fleshy,
o some calcify the tube to form a shell
compressed projection of the body wall
(Serpulidae, Spirorbidae)
- Parapodial lobes (rami) house the chaetal sacs,
- tube is like a lair from which to emerge + catch
each of which secretes a bundle of chaetae
prey (Diopatra)
o Two bundles of chaetae are borne by
- tube may provide a source of clean, oxygenated
each parapodium
water to its subterranean occupant
o New chaetae are produced by chaetael
- few worms brood their eggs and young within the
sac as older chaetae are lost/shed
tube
o Chaetae adopt diverse shapes + chaetal
- Chaetopterus pumps water through its tube for
bundles of a particular species may be
gas exchange and filter feeding
composed of more than one type of
chaeta MUSCULATURE AND LOCOMOTION
o Most chaetae are used to improve
- Peristaltic burrowing is common to those having
traction for locomotion through
elongate bodies + reduced parapodia and head
sediment or over surfaces, so their tips
appendages and many similar segments
are variations
- Circular musculature is well developed and septa
o Some are spatulate shovels used for
are complete, restricting the coelomic fluid to
digging, some are for swimming, others
individual segments
(ucini) bear numerous microscopic
- Active burrowers resemble earthworms and are
Velcro-like hooks to grip inner walls of
represented in Scolecida
tubes and burrows
- Other burrowing polychaetes augment or replace
- Their segments are generally similar but in some
whole-body peristalsis with an eversible pharynx
burrowers and tube dwellers there has been a
o As it everts, it pushes into the sediment
tendency for trunk to become specialized into
and anchors
distinct regions (thorax + abdomen) = result of
o Animal then pulls itself forward into the
variations in the parapodia or presence/absence
sediment as it retracts the anchored
of gills
pharynx
o Number of segments range from 10 to
o Glycera (blood worm) has abandoned
over 200
peristalsis and burrows solely with its
- Polychaete head can have:
 prodigious pharynx which punches into
the sediment
o Armandia and Opthelia produce rapid
lateral undulations of the body + swim
through loosely consolidated sand
o Very small sediment dwellers use cila for
locomotion (Dinophilidae and
Diurodrilidae)
- Many polychaetes either crawl over surfaces or
swim using well-developed parapodia and
chaetae (Nereidae, Phyllodocidae, Polynoidae,
Alciopidae, Tomopteridae)
o Prostomium is equipped with eyes and
other sense organs
NERVOUS SYSTEM AND SENSE ORGANS
o Parapodia well-developed, segments are
generally similar
o Movement = result of the combined
action of the parapodia + body-wall
musculature + coelomic fuid skeleton
o The longitudinal layer is better developed
than the circular layer
o Specialized parapodial muscles are well
developed
o Incomplete septa
- During slow crawling, parapodia and chaetae
move like legs, alternately pushing against the
substratum in the power stroke + lifting above
the substratum in the recovery stroke
o As the power stroke begins, the acicula
and chaetae extend, the parapodium
makes contract with the substratum and
then sweeps rearward
o Recovery stroke is inititated as the acicula
and chaetae retract, then the parapodium
lifts off the substratum and swings
forward
o Movements of the parapodia are
coordinated to avoid interference +
effectively move the worm
o Parapodia on opposite sides of same
segment are 180 degrees out of phase if
the left-side = power stroke
right side = recovery stroke
o the series of parapodia are coordinated in
waves, like falling dominoes that pass
from posterior to anterior (progressive
wave)
o when parapodium in the middle of its
power stroke the next anterior
parapodium completes its power stroke as
the next posterior parapodium completes
its power stroke = similar to crawling
millipede
- Rapid crawling involves parapodia + lateral body
undulations produced by waves of longitudinal-
muscle contraction
o These progress forward along the body +
coincide with the alternating waves of
parapodial activity
o Parapodial power stroke occurs at the
crest of an undulatory wave
o With the crest parapodia fimly planted to
the substratum, contraction of
longitudinal muscles on the opposite,
through side of the body imparts
additional thrust to the crest-side
o As the longitudinal muscles shorten +
compress the through side, the crest side
expands thrusting back against the
parapodia anchored in the substratum =
pushing the animal forward
- Benthic polychaetes (Naeris) swim using the
rapid-crawling movements
- Members of Alciopidae have enormous eyes
- Species of Tomopteridae (no chaetae) have
membranous parapodial pinnules = most highly
specialized of the pelagic polychaetes
- Brain and ladderlike nerve cords are like the
general annelids
- Polychaete brain = large and lobed if the head
bears sense organs
- Pedal ganglia = additional ganglia; commonly
associated with the segmental nerve cords at the
bases of the parapodia
o These are important centers that control
the complex parapodial movements
- Ventral nerve cord may be paired + ladderlike
o In Owenia, unpaired and
nonganglionated nerve cord occurs in th
epidermis
- Chief sense organs:
o Nuchal organs
o Ocelli
o Statocysts
- Nuchal organs pair of ciliated sensory pits or
slits situated posteriolaterally on the prostomium
o Widespread; unique to polychaetes
o chemoreceptive organs; important for
detecting food
o Amphinomidae they expand to form a
convoluted, brainlike crown (caruncle)
on the upper surface of the head
- Eyes (ocelli) which are best developed in errant
polychaetes (Aciculata) are found on the surface
of the prostomium in two, three, or four pairs
o They sometimes occur elsewhere on the
body
Feathers of feather-duster
worms have a shadow reflex and
instantly withdraw into their
tubes when a shadow is cast over
them
o Prostomial ocelli are pigment cups
Walls of which are
composed of rodlike
photoreceptors
(modified microvilli) +
pigment cells +
supporting cells
o Determines light intensity and direction
Acliopidae have
bulging eyes that may
be capable of image
formation
- Statocysts predominate among sedentary
burrowers and tube dwellers
 o Lugworm Arenicola = has one pair of
cilia-lined statocysts embedded in the
body wall of the head each opening to
the exterior via lateral canal
Contains spicules + diatom shells
+ quartz grains = all coated with
chitinous material
Always burrows head downward
Worm makes a compensating
90 turn in burrowing if an
aquarium containing a worm is
tilted 90
If statocysts are destroyed =
compensating ability is lost
- Sensory appendages of:
o Prostomium (antennae, palps)
o Peristomium (tentacular cirri)
o Parapodia (dorsal + ventral cirri)
all bear numerous sensory cells
- Each appendage is thought to house both
mechanoreceptors + chemoreceptors, but
distinct sensory roles for the individual
appendages have not determined
- Some mechanoreceptors may be
o Tactile
o Sensitive to water flow
o Dendrites are embedded in the cuticle,
may be stretch receptors
(proprioceptors)
- Some chemoreceptive cells detect pheromones
released prior sexual reproduction
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
- Gut is typically a straight tube extending from the
mouth at the anterior end of the worm to the
anus on the pygidium
- Digestive system is like that of general annelids
o Commonly differentiated into a pharynx
(buccal cavity if no pharynx) + short
esophagus + stomach (in sedentary
species) + intestine + rectum
- Pharynx can be:
o Protrusible, tonguelike muscular bulb
Situated in the midventral wall of
the foregut
o Eversible organ
Teeth of various forms and functions occur in
the pharynx
o In Naeris, two large glandular ceca
open into the esophagus
o The ceca secrete digestive enzymes
- In worms that crawl or burrow = feces are simply
released and abandoned
- Chaetopterus pump water unidirectionally
through their tubes defecate into the
downstream exhaust flow
- Runs foul when only one end of the tube/burrow
is exposed to the surface water, therefore
polychaetes live upside-down
- Many invert themselves temporarily to defecate
at the surface
- Feather-duster worms and mason worms live
upright in blind-ended tubes
o They vent their feces without standing on
their heads
o Mason worms bends their body into a U
- Dorsal body of feather-duster worms has a
ciliated out of the tube
- Many species consolidate their feces into high-
density fecal pellets or strings, which tend not to
resuspend and reenter their burrows or tubes
NUTRITION
- Direct deposit feeders ingest sediment directly
with the mouth or a nonmuscular, bulbous,
protrusible pharynx (lugworms - Arenicolidae,
bamboo worms- Maldanidae, Orbiniidae,
Capitellidae)
- Indirect deposit feeders feed on organic
material in sediments but collect material first
with a specialized appendage that conveys food
to the mouth
o Appendages are extensible prostomial
tentacles (spaghetti worms)
o Palp worms use a pair of long peristomial
palps
- Carnivores + herbivores + scavengers are motile
(errant) polychaetes that crawl over surfaces and
in crevices or catch plankton (Alciopidae)
o Some are tube dwellers or active
burrowers
o They typically have a well-developed
muscular developed pharynx
o Everted pharynx may be
muscular grasping tube
(paddleworms)
thick rasping lower lip
(fireworms)
bear jaws with grasping
(Nereidae, Eunicidae,
Lumbrineridae)
venomous teeth (Gylceridae)
- horny jaws are composed of a cross-linked
(tanned) protein
- when food is detected pharynx rapidly everts
exposing and opening jaws
o food is then seized then pharynx is
retracted
- protractor muscles may be present, but increased
coelomic pressure everts the pharynx
o when it relaxes + coelomic pressure
drops = pharynx is withdrawn by
retractor muscles
- all suspension feeders are sedentary animals
o they occupy tubes in sediment/attached
to shells/rocks and other hard surfaces
o presence of ciliated appendages with
large SA for trapping suspended particles
(feathery crown of feather-duster worms)
o they secrete a mucous net through which
water is pumped + filtered (Chaetopterus)
o Labrorostratus lives in the coelom of
other polychaetes + may be as big as
host
o Ectoparasites attach to fins of marine
eels (Ichthyotomidae)
GAS EXCHANGE
- Occurs across general body wall
 - Additional specialized gills are present
o Esp. in large-bodied burrowers + tube
dwellers
o Always unprotected outgrowth of the
body surface
o Never enclosed in gill chambers
o Absent in tiny polychaetes + those with
long threadlike bodies
- Gills are associated with the parapodia
o Notopodium may be flattened to form
branchial (gill) lobe in Nereids
o Dorsal cirrus of parapodium = modified
as a gill
o Gills can arise from base of dorsal cirrus
- Scaleworms gas exchange is largely restriceted
to dorsal body surface
o Roofed by elytra overlapping fishlike
scales
Each of which is borne on a short
stalk
- Cilia on the dorsal body surface create a current
of water beneath the elytra
o Aphrodite lacks cilia but similar water
current is produced by rocking its elytra
- Gills of many sedentary species are branched
feather or treelike structures restricted to the
anterior end of the body + independent of
parapodia
o Gills of spaghetti worms
Spectacular red absorbent gills
Ciliated + contractile
Pulsate rhythmically
o Feather duster of feather duster worms
function as gills + filter for feeding
- Ciliary beating + muscular contraction = gill
ventilation
- Worms that ventilate using peristalsis = exhibit a
spontaneous ventilating rhythm in which it
alternates with a period of rest
- Muscular exertion associated with peristaltic
ventilation = increase the worms O2
consumption by 15-fold but approx. 20-fold
increase O2 uptake
INTERNAL TRANSPORT
- Circulation results from fluid movement in hemal
system + coelom
o Reduced septa (glyceride bloodworms)
Coelomic system is replaces
hemal system + transports
substances throughout the body
- Basic layout of hemal system is similar to general
annelid but complicated
o By addition of parapodial + gill
circulations
- Ventral vessel gives rise to:
o parapodial vessels
transport blood to parapodi
+body wall + nephridia before
returning to dorsal vessel
o several pairs of intestinal vessels
deliver blood from gut to ventral
vessel
- capillary plexus in parapodia + gut wall =
facilitates exchange in p. vessels and i.vessels
- gills have afferent + efferent vascular loops
o permitting two-way flow
lugworms
notopodal lobes of Nereids
- feathers of feather-duster worms contain a
single vessel which blood flows tidally in and out
- Glyecerids parapodial gills are irrigated with
coelomic fluid instead of blood
- Blood is colorless in small polychaetes
- Hemoglobin occur in plasma in larger species
- Respiratory pigments are diverse
- They have three to four animal respiratory
pigments
o Haemoglobin most common
o Chlorocruorin slight chemical
difference makes it green instead red
o Hemerythrin pink or violet hue
(Magelona)
binds an atom of iron at its
center
nonheme (lacks porphyrin)
- coelomic fluid is circulated by muscular
contractions of the body wall or by muscular
contractions and cilia on the coelomic lining
o may be colorless or
o contain low-molecular weight
haemoglobin in coelomocytes
pigment sometimes occur only
on the coeleom (Capitellidae)
not in the hemal system
terebellids and opheliids
two different
hemoglobins present:
one in blood and one in
the coelom
Glycera + most scaleworms
o Have bright red
hemoglobin in/around
their nerve cords
Scaleworms
Myoglobin occurs in
muscles
- Oxygen-binding properties of pigments differ
when haemoglobin is present in hemal + coelom
o Hemal vessel (gill) least tight
o Muscle + nerve most tight
o Coelomic fluid - intermediate
= results in a cascade of oxygen transport
from gill vessels -> coelom -> oxygen-
demanding cells
- Hemal system haemoglobin binds oxygen at the
gill to be stripped away by the higher affinity
coelomic haemoglobin has its oxygen removed
by the higher affinity nerve and muscle
haemoglobin
- Mitochondrial cytochromes highest affinity;
final destination for respiratory oxygen
- Oxygen availability drops as tide receds + water
stagnates
o Polychaetes may suppress their
metabolic rate = become torpid
 o Rely on stored oxygen bound to
haemoglobin or both
EXCRETION
- Filtration nephridia polychaete excretory
organs
- May play accessory roles in excretion:
o Chlorogogen tissue
o Coelomocytes
o Intestinal wall
- Protonephridia occur in few adult polychaetes
that lack/have reduced hemal system
- Most polychaetes have hemal + metanephridial
systems
- Correlation of blood vessels with metanephridia
+ absence with protonephridia = how
ultrafiltration occurs in two functional groups
- Polychaetes with metanephridial systems have
vascular sites covered with podocytes + septum
associated metanephridia
- Nereis bears ciliated funnel-like nephrostome
- the long postseptal tubule forms a coiled mass
enclosed in a thin mesothelial sheath
o tubule elongation + coiling
adaptations that increase SA for tubular
secretion or reabsorption
o nephridiopore opens at the base of the
neuropodium on the ventral side
o entire lining of tubule is ciliated
- metanephridia of most other polychaetes differ
slightly from Nereis but may be regionally
restriced to excretory segments
o feather-duster worms one pair of
anterior nephridia
ducts of two nephridia unite in
the ventral midline + open
through a single nephridiopore
on the head
worm releases urine directly to
exteneral environment + avoid
fouling
- solenocyte each terminal cell in the cluster of
cells in protonephridium
o closely resembles a sponge choanocyte
- many polychaetes can tolerate low salinities
o worms eliminate excesss water and take
up salt (have glomerulus-like network of
blood vessels)
o Nereis succinea - gills contain cells for
actively absorbing ions
o Manyunkia speciosa colonizes
freshwater + widely distributed
REPRODUCTION
Regeneration and Clonal Reproduction
- Regeneration is common in burrowers and tube
dwellers
- Potential regeneration is greater in worms with
uniformly differentiated trunks than those with
specialized thoracic + abdominal regions except:
o Chaetopterus and Dodecaceria
regenerate at the entire body from a
single segment
- Nervous system plays an important role in
regeneration
o Neuroendocrine is involved in some way
- Clonal reproduction occurs in some
o Cirratulids (Dodecaceria)
o Syllids, feather duster worms (Sabellidae)
o Palp worms (Spionidae)
- Budding + transvers fission = two common
modes of asexual reproduction
Sexual Reproduction
- Majority of species are gonochoric
- Gonads are distinct
- Segemented paired organs found in the
connective tissue with septa + blood vessels +
coelom lining
- Most segments bear gonads in many polychaetes
but some are restricted to genital segments
- Gonads are usually limited to the abdomen in
polychaetes with distinct thoracic + abdominal
= regions
o Feather duster worms have anterior
abdominal segments = produce eggs;
posterior produce sperm
- Germ cells are shed into the coelom as
gametogonia/primary gametocytes
- Growth and differentiation of the gametes is
completed in the coelomic fluid
o When worm is mature, coeleom is packed
with ripe eggs or sperm = can be seen
through the body wall
o Pomatoceros bright pink or orange
o Proceraea fasciata red-banded whitish
body
- Gametes are either spawned through the
metanephridia or by rupturing of the body wall
o Body-wall rupture is common to species
that transform into pelagic swarmers
Epitokes Nereidae, Syllidae,
Eunicidae
o Rupture is typical to shimmy worms
(Nephtyidae) and bloodworms
(Glyceridae)
Protonephridia present as adults
Epitoky
- Epitoky formation of a pelagic reproductive
individual called epitoke from a benthic
nonreproductive atoke
- Coincides with gamete production + sexual
maturity
- Involved changes in nonreproductive structures
that adapt the worm for swimming and allow it to
detect mate
o Eye enlargement
o Parapodia modification + chaetae for
swimming
o Segment enlargement s
o Segmental musculature enhancement
 - One or more epitoke can arise from the atoke
either by metamorphosis of the entire individual
(Nereids), or
- By differentiation + separation (budding) from
the posterior half of the body (Eunicids and
Syllids)
- Gamete-bearing segments of epitokes are
modified = body of worm divided into different
regions
o Nereis irrorata and N. succinea
Have large eyes and reduced
prostomial palps + tentacles
o Palola (Eunice) viridis anterior end is
unmodified and epitokal region consists
of chain of egg-filled segments
Swarming
- Epitokes swim to surface simultaneously and shed
eggs and sperm
- Female produces a pheromone that attracts male
and stimulates shedding of sperm
- Sperm then stimulates shedding of eggs
- Autolytus swims in circles around the female
touching her with antennae + releasing sperm
- Light cues are often important in synchronizing
swarming
- Autolytus edwardsi induced by changes in the
light intensity dawn and dusk to leave the bottom
and swim to the surface
- May also be affected by lunar periods
- Odontosyllis enopla swarms in the summer
beginning 3 days after the full moon and 56 min
after sunset
- Female swims in circles at the surface while
emitting bioluminescent glow that attracts males
- Males are called blinkers swim rapidy to the
female
- They then spew gametes in a stunning
luminescent finale; spent female and male return
to the bottom and convert back to atokes
- Palolo has swarming lunar periodicity
o Palolo referred to Palola virdis
o Occupies rock and coral crevices below
the low-tide mark -> releases epitokes in
October or November
- Female epitokes can exceed 1mm in length
- Eunice schemacephala negatively phototactic ;
emerges from the burrow to feed only at night
- Swarming takes place in July near last quarter of
a lunar cycle
o At 3 or 4 o clock am, worm backs out of
its burrow
o Caudal epitokal region breaks free
o Epitokeheads for the surface and swims
slowly, spiralling
Endocrine Control of Reproduction
- Reproductive events are regulated by hormones
o Neurosecretions produced by the brain
o Syllids nervous elements of the sucking
foregut
- Nereids and Syllids hormone regulates entire
reproductive state (production + epitoke
development)
- Hormone is required for gamete development in
worms that breed more than once
Oviposition
- Many shed their eggs freely into the seawater
- After fertilization they become planktonic
- Some retain their eggs within their tubes or
burrows or lay them in jelly masses
- Axiotella bamboo worm produces an ovoid egg
mas resembling a large transparent grape that is
attached to the chimney of tube
- Many brood their eggs
o Spinoids and Serpulids brood in their
tubes
o Spirorbis cavity of operculum
o Autolytus secreted sac attached to the
ventral surface of the body
o Nereis limnicola gestate eggs in coelom
Development and Metamorphosis
- Gastrulation takes place by invagination, epiboly
or both
- Embryo rapidly develops to top-shaped
trochophore larva after gastrulation
o Owenia, Polygordius, Phylodocidaem
Serpulidae (greatest development
attained from these species)
- Trochophores of some are lecithotrophic and
their short larval existence is spent near the
bottom
- Trochophore -> juvenile body
- Gradual lengthening of the body = most
conspicuous feature of metamorphosis
o Pretrochal region + apical plate form the
prostomium and the brain
Post-telotrochal region = pygidium
- Metamorphosis may result in the immediate
termination of planktonic existence
o Metamorphosing stages of Spionids,
Sabellariids, Oweniids have greatly
enlarged + erectile + protective anterior
chaetae
- Some have their trochophore stage passed in the
egg prior to hatching
o Less drastic because larval structures
never fully develop
o Autolytus elongate larva breaks free
from the brood sac
o Axiotella mucosa and Scoloplos armiger
direct development +juveniles from jelly
capsule assume immediate adult mode
- Developmental patterns:
o Annual species
Live only 1 to 2 years and spwan
only once
Produce large number of small
eggs
Well-developed feeding larvae
(planktonic for a week or more)
 o Perrenial species
Live and breed for more than a
year
Produce small numbe of large
yolky eggs
Nonfeeding benthic larvae
o Multiannual species
Short life spans
Several generations in one year
Produce small batches of large
yolky eggs
Nonfeeding benthic larvae

Population Biology

- Burrowing and tube-dwelling polychaetes occur

in enormous numbers on the ocean floor
- Compose a major part of the soft-bottom fauna
- Density of polychaetes in Tampa Bay, Florida is
13,425 per square meters
- 40 to 80% of the infauna in upper continental
slope + deep ocean floor
- Euzonus (Thoracophelia) mucronatus occur in
dense aggregations on the protected intertidal
beaches along the pacific coast of US
- Number of worms averages 2500 to 3000 per 30
square meters
- Worms occupying a strip in a beach 1.5 km long
3 m wide, and 30 cm thick ingest ~ 13,270 metric
tons of sand each year
- Such populations do not appear to be limited by
food resources
- Predation and other pressures prevent annelid,
mollusc and other infaunal populations from ever
reaching the carrying capacity of the habitat
- Areas in York River of the Chesapeake Bay were
protected from fish and crabs by wire cages
- = half of polychaetes increased from 2 to many
times
 DIVERISTY OF POLYCHAETA - In some, palps have shifted to the peristomium
Scolecida
Order Spionida
- No prostomial appendages
- Two or more pairs of cirri on pygidium - Family Spionidae
- Most are burrowers with bulbous protrusible - Family Magelonidae
pharynx - Family Chaetopteridae
- Sediment directly ingested
- sedentary polychaetes Order Terebellida

Family Arenicoliae - Family Terebellidae

Family Maldanidae - Family Ampharetidae
Family Capitellidae - Family Cirratulidae
Family Orbiniidae - Family Pectinariidae
Family Opheliidae - Family Flabelligeridae

PALPATA Order Sabellida

- Sister taxon of Scolecida - Family Oweniidae

- Presence of sensory palps on the prostomium - Family Sabellariidae
- Family Sabellidae
ACICULATA o Radioles bipinnate tentacles
o Pinnules side branches of each
- Biramous parapodium o Sabella
- One aciculum at least in the notopodium +
neuropodium Order Pogonophora
- Dorsal + ventral cirri present
- Four, three or two antennae - Opisthoma posterior end of the body; short
- Formerly called errant and bulbous
o composed of several short segments
Order Phyllodocida o anchor the worm in its tube (together
with the chaetae) allowing it to withdraw
- Family Phyllodocidae rapidly
- Family Tomopteridae
- Family Alciopidae
- Family Nereidae
o Nereis
- Family Glyceridae
- Family Nephtyidae
o Nephtys
o Shimmy worms
- Family Aphroditidae + Polynoidae +
Polyodontidae + Sigalionidae
o Elytron each scale has this highly
modified dorsal cirrus
- Family Hesionidae

Order Myzostomida
Order Eunicida
- Family Eunicidae
- Family Amphinomidae
- Family Onuphidae
- Family Syllidae
o Proventriculus specialized muscular
part of the pharynx used for sucking out
the contents of the prey
- Family Oenonidae (formerly Arabellidae)
- Family Lumbrineridae
- Family Ichthyomidae

CANALIPALPATA

- Sister taxon of Articulata

- sedentary species in tubes/ semi-permanent
burrows
- Longitudinally grooved palps on prostomium
o Used for suspension/deposit feeding