The chaetopterids are highly modified tubiculous polychaetes that are adapted to pump water through their tubes as part of their suspension feeding activities. Their bodies are elongate (up to 300mm long) and fragile, and divided into 3 distinct regions. They range from intertidal waters to deep sea, are most commonly found as infauna in sand or mud where they are solitary or form colonies of tough membranous tubes.
Diversity
The chaetopterids comprise 4 genera, and between 30 (Blake, 1996) and 41 (Gilbert, 1986) species worldwide. In Australian waters 4 described species and 4 undescribed species are present from all 4 genera. The 4 undescribed species are provisionally identified from major benthic surveys of soft sediments in southeastern Australia. The principal areas surveyed are Bass Strait and Port Phillip Bay (material held in Museum Victoria, Melbourne) and Jervis and Botany Bays (material held in Australian Museum, Sydney). Many taxa undoubtedly remain to be described from Australian waters, especially beyond the soft sediment communities of southeastern Australia which have generated much of the material covered here.
There is still debate about whether Chaetopterus is monotypic with a large distribution or has numerous species. As this has yet to be resolved, we have followed Fauchald (1977) in recognising only Chaetopterus variopedatus.
