Spintheridae is a family of marine polychaete worms with a single genus, ''Spinther'', containing these species:
* ''
Spinther alaskensis''
Hartman, 1948
* ''
Spinther arcticus''
(M. Sars, 1851) (includes
Spinther miniaceus''
Grube, 1860)
*''
Spinther australiensis''
Augener, 1913
* ''
Spinther citrinus''
(Stimpson, 1854)
*''
Spinther ericinus''
Yamamoto & Imajima, 1985
*''
Spinther hystrix''
Uschakov, 1950
* ''
Spinther japonicus''
Imajima and Hartman, 1964
* ''
Spinther oniscoides''
Johnston, 1845
*''
Spinther sagamiensis''
Imajima, 2003
*''
Spinther usarpia''
Hartman, 1967
* ''
Spinther vegae''
Augener, 1928 (includes ''
Spinther wireni''
Hartman, 1948)
The animal lives as a symbiont on sponges.
Johnston's paper does not explain the choice of the name, but ancient Greek σπινθήρ means "spark." In images of the living animal, it appears to be surrounded by a cloud of pinpoints of light.
References
Polychaetes
Taxa named by George Johnston (naturalist)
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