Flabelligeridae Explained

Flabelligeridae is a family of polychaete worms, known as bristle-cage worms, notable for their cephalic cage: long slender chaetae forming a fan-like arrangement surrounding the eversible (able to be turned inside-out) head.^{[1] [2]} Unlike many polychaetes, they also have large, pigmented, complex eyes.^{[3] [4]}

Habitat

These worms live under stones and are known to burrow into sand.^[5] They have a cosmopolitan distribution and live in a variety of marine habitats, from the deep sea to shallow coastal regions.^[6]

Subdivisions

The first species was Amphridite plumosa, described from Norway. Flabelligerids were placed in various similar polychaete families until Saint-Joseph erected the family (under the name Flabelligeriens) in 1894.^[7]

Mazopherusa is a possible fossil example from the Carboniferous; other fossil material is only dubiously assigned to the family.

Notes and References

1. Book: Westheide. Wilfried. Purschke. Günter. Bleidorn. Christoph. Helm. Conrad. Mackie. Andrew S.Y. . Böggemann. Markus . Blake. James A. . Ebbe. Brigitte . Zhadan. Anna E. . Salazar-Vallejo. Sergio I. . Dean. Harlan K. . Magalhães. Wagner . Martínez. Alejandro . Worsaae. Katrine . Núñez. Jorge . Fiege. Dieter . Maciolek. Nancy J.. Purschke. Günter . Böggemann. Markus . Westheide. Wilfried . 7. Pleistoannelida . Annelida Basal Groups and Pleistoannelida, Sedentaria I . 1. 2019. 398-421. 10.1515/9783110291582-007 . De Gruyter . 9783110291582 . 243185961 .
2. Oug, Eivind & Bakken, Torkild & Kongsrud, Jon. (2011). Guide to identification of Flabelligeridae (Polychaeta) in Norwegian and adjacent waters.
3. Purschke . Günter . Vodopyanov . Stepan . Baller . Anjilie . von Palubitzki . Tim . Bartolomaeus . Thomas . Beckers . Patrick . 2022-01-25 . Ultrastructure of cerebral eyes in Oweniidae and Chaetopteridae (Annelida) – implications for the evolution of eyes in Annelida . Zoological Letters . 8 . 1 . 3 . 10.1186/s40851-022-00188-0 . 2056-306X . 8787891 . 35078543 . free .
4. Vodopyanov . Stepan . Purschke . Günter . 2017-09-01 . Fine structure of the cerebral eyes in Flabelligera affinis (Annelida, Sedentaria, Cirratuliformia): new data prove the existence of typical converse annelid multicellular eyes in a sedentary polychaete . Zoomorphology . en . 136 . 3 . 307–325 . 10.1007/s00435-017-0350-2 . 253982132 . 1432-234X.
5. Book: Rouse . Gregory . Polychaetes . Pleijel . Fredrik . 2001-10-11 . OUP Oxford . 978-0-19-850608-9 . en.
6. Jimi . Naoto . Hasegawa . Naohiro . Taru . Masanori . Oya . Yuki . Kohtsuka . Hisanori . Shinji . Tsuchida . Fujiwara . Yoshihiro . Woo . Sau Pinn . 15 Apr 2022 . Five New Species of Flabelligera (Flabelligeridae: Annelida) from Japan . . 27 . 101–111. 10.12782/specdiv.27.101 . 248191534 . free .
7. Web site: Flabelligeridae . 2023-01-17 . www.gbif.org . en.