Polynoidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

of marine

Polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class (biology), class of generally marine invertebrate, marine annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that ...

worms known as "scale worms" due to the scale-like

elytra An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...

on the dorsal surface. Almost 900 species are currently recognised belonging to 9 subfamilies and 167 genera. They are active hunters, but generally dwell in protected environments such as under stones. The group is widely distributed from shallow

intertidal The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of Marine habitat, habitats with var ...

waters to

hadal The hadal zone, also known as the hadopelagic zone, is the deepest region of the ocean, lying within oceanic trenches. The hadal zone ranges from around below sea level, and exists in long, narrow, topographic V-shaped depressions. The cumula ...

trenches. They are the most diverse group of polychaetes in terms of genus number and second most diverse in terms of species number which is almost 8% of all segmented worm species. Unid scale worm

Description

Most Polynoidae species are short and flattened, but can reach as much as 20 cm in length and 10 cm width in ''

Eulagisca gigantea ''Eulagisca gigantea'' is a scale worm that is widely distributed around Antarctica and the Southern Ocean at depths of about . Description ''Eulagisca gigantea'' can grow to a length of and a width of . It is dorso-ventrally flattened and has ...

'' and ''

Eulagisca uschakovi ''Eulagisca uschakovi'' is a giant scale worm known from the Antarctic, in waters such as off Mac.Robertson Land, Palmer Archipelago and the Weddell Sea, at depths of 10 to 920m. Description Specimens can grow to up to around 190mm in length ...

''. Individuals are usually covered almost entirely by

, which can be shed and regenerated in many species. The elytra of some species are faintly

bioluminescent Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some Fungus, fungi, microorganisms including ...

, and leave glowing traces around the mouthparts of their predators, making those predators more likely to be attacked in turn.

Deep sea

The first deep-sea species of Polynoidae was collected at 1230 m during the

Challenger Expedition The ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific program that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, . The expedition, initiated by Wil ...

and several a number of subfamilies appear to be restricted to the deep sea below 500 m. Species have colonised submarine caves and

hydrothermal vents A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspot ...

. Deep sea species are characterised by a partial or complete loss of antennae, fewer segments, a reduction in jaws and delicate elytra.

Phylogenetic relationships

The Polynoidae has been shown to be

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

, however relationships within the family are unclear and hence the number of valid subfamilies has been repeatedly revised in recent years. One of the main deep sea subfamilies, the Macellicephalinae has been consistently recovered as

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

, and it has been proposed that ten Polynoid subfamilies could be synonymized with it to create a homogeneous clade characterised by a lack of lateral antennae. More recently, however, one of the synonymized subfamilies was reinstated.

Genera

The following Polynoidae genera are recognised as valid as of June 2020: *''

Acanthicolepis ''Acanthicolepis'' is a genus of marine annelids in the family Polynoidae (scale worms). The genus was described in 1990 and includes two short-bodied species with up to 50 segments and which occur in the Mediterranean Sea and North-east Atla ...

'' *'' Acholoe'' *''

Admetella ''Admetella'' is a genus of marine annelids in the family Polynoidae (scale worms). Species of ''Admetella'', although uncommonly collected are nevertheless known from widespread localities in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans at depths ...

'' *''

Adyte ''Adyte hyalina'' is a species of marine annelids in the family Polynoidae (scale worms) and the only accepted species in the genus ''Adyte''. ''Adyte hyalina'' occurs in the North-east Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, at depths down to ab ...

'' *'' Alentia'' *'' Alentiana'' *'' Allmaniella'' *'' Anotochaetonoe'' *'' Antarctinoe'' *''

Antinoe In Greek mythology, the name Antinoe (; Ancient Greek: Ἀντινόη) may refer to: * Antinoe, mother of Ancaeus and Epochus by King Lycurgus of Arcadia.Scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, ''Argonautica'' 1.164 The latter's wife was otherwise kn ...

'' *''

Antipathipolyeunoa ''Antipathipolyeunoa'' is a genus of marine annelids in the family Polynoidae (scale worms). The genus contains a single species, ''Antipathipolyeunoa nuttingi'', found in the Caribbean Sea at a depth of 91 metres.Pettibone, M.H. (1991). Polynoi ...

'' *'' Arcteobia'' *''

Arctonoe ''Arctonoe'' is a genus of worms belonging to the family Polynoidae. They are commonly known as "scale worms". Members of this genus predominantly occur in shallow (50 metres or less) waters of the northeast Pacific Ocean and often live as comme ...

'' *'' Arctonoella'' *''

Augenerilepidonotus ''Augenerilepidonotus dictyolepis'' is a species of marine annelids in the family Polynoidae (scale worms) and the sole member of the genus ''Augenerilepidonotus''. It is known from Australia, usually from depths of about 40 metres or less. ...

'' *''

Australaugeneria ''Australaugeneria'' is a genus of marine annelids in the family Polynoidae (scale worms). The genus includes 4 species which are commensal on octocorals. Description Elytra 15 pairs, 36–40 segments. Lateral antennae inserted ventrall ...

'' *'' Australonoe'' *'' Austrolaenilla'' *'' Austropolaria'' *'' Barrukia'' *'' Bathyadmetella'' *'' Bathybahamas'' *'' Bathycanadia'' *'' Bathycatalina'' *'' Bathyedithia'' *'' Bathyeliasona'' *'' Bathyfauvelia'' *'' Bathyhololepidella'' *'' Bathykermadeca'' *'' Bathykurila'' *'' Bathylevensteina'' *'' Bathymacella'' *'' Bathymariana'' *'' Bathymiranda'' *'' Bathymoorea'' *'' Bathynoe'' *'' Bathynotalia'' *'' Bathypolaria'' *'' Bathytasmania'' *'' Bathyvitiazia'' *'' Bayerpolynoe'' *'' Benhamipolynoe'' *'' Benhamisetosus'' *'' Branchinotogluma'' *'' Branchiplicatus'' *'' Branchipolynoe'' *'' Bruunilla'' *'' Brychionoe'' *'' Bylgides'' *'' Capitulatinoe'' *'' Cervilia'' *'' Chaetacanthus'' *'' Dilepidonotus'' *'' Diplaconotum'' *'' Disconatis'' *'' Drieschella'' *'' Drieschiopsis'' *'' Enipo'' *'' Eucranta'' *'' Eulagisca'' *''

Eunoe Eunoe (Greek: ) is a feature of Dante's ''Divine Comedy'' created by Dante as the fifth river of the dead (taking into consideration that Cocytus was described as a lake rather than a river). In the ''Purgatorio'', the second ''cantica'' of Dante ...

'' *'' Euphione'' *'' Euphionella'' *'' Eupolynoe'' *'' Euphione'' *'' Frennia'' *'' Gastrolepidia'' *'' Gattyana'' *'' Gaudichaudius'' *'' Gesiella'' *'' Gorekia'' *'' Gorgoniapolynoe'' *'' Grubeopolynoe'' *'' Halosydna'' *'' Halosydnella'' *'' Halosydnopsis'' *'' Harmothoe'' *'' Hartmania'' *'' Hemilepidia'' *'' Hermadion'' *'' Hermadionella'' *'' Hermenia'' *'' Hermilepidonotus'' *'' Hesperonoe'' *'' Heteralentia'' *'' Heteropolynoe'' *'' Hololepida'' *'' Hololepidella'' *'' Hylosydna'' *'' Hyperhalosydna'' *'' Intoshella'' *'' Kermadecella'' *'' Lagisca'' *'' Lepidametria'' *'' Lepidasthenia'' *'' Lepidastheniella'' *'' Lepidofimbria'' *'' Lepidogyra'' *'' Lepidonopsis'' *'' Lepidonotopodium'' *''

Lepidonotus ''Lepidonotus'' is a genus of marine annelids in the family Polynoidae (scale worms). The genus occurs globally and includes 80 species, usually found in shallow waters down to about 80 metres. Description Body dorsoventrally flattened, sho ...

'' *'' Leucia'' *'' Levensteiniella'' *'' Lobopelma'' *'' Macellicephala'' *'' Macellicephaloides'' *'' Macelloides'' *'' Malmgrenia'' *'' Medioantenna'' *'' Melaenis'' *'' Minusculisquama'' *'' Natopolynoe'' *'' Neobylgides'' *'' Neohololepidella'' *'' Neolagisca'' *'' Neopolynoe'' *'' Nonparahalosydna'' *'' Olgalepidonotus'' *'' Ophthalmonoe'' *'' Parabathynoe'' *'' Paradyte'' *'' Paragattyana'' *'' Parahalosydna'' *'' Parahalosydnopsis'' *'' Parahololepidella'' *'' Paralentia'' *'' Paralepidonotus'' *'' Paranychia'' *'' Parapolyeunoa'' *'' Pararctonoella'' *'' Pareulagisca'' *'' Peinaleopolynoe'' *'' Pelagomacellicephala'' *'' Perolepis'' *'' Pettibonesia'' *'' Phyllantinoe'' *'' Phyllohartmania'' *'' Phyllosheila'' *'' Podarmus'' *'' Polaruschakov'' *'' Polyeunoa'' *'' Polynoe'' *'' Polynoella'' *'' Polynoina'' *'' Pottsiscalisetosus'' *'' Pseudohalosydna'' *'' Pseudopolynoe'' *'' Robertianella'' *'' Rullieriella'' *'' Russellhanleya'' *'' Scalisetosus'' *'' Sheila '' *'' Showapolynoe'' *'' Showascalisetosus'' *'' Subadyte'' *'' Telodrieschia'' *'' Telolepidasthenia'' *'' Tenonia'' *'' Thermopolynoe'' *'' Thormora'' *'' Tottonpolynoe'' *'' Uncopolynoe'' *'' Vampiropolynoe'' *'' Verrucapelma'' *'' Yodanoe'' *'' Ysideria''

References

Further information

External links

List of currently accepted Polynoidae species at the World Record of Marine SpeciesAn information system for polychaete families and higher taxa (Polikey)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q221318 Phyllodocida Annelid families