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Iospilidae
Natural History
Iospilids are small, short-bodied, pelagic worms. They are probably widespread in the oceans, but are apparently infrequently collected (or perhaps just infrequently recognised) in plankton samples. There are no studies of their biology or ecology.
Diversity
The most recent and complete review of the Iospilidae is
Uschakov (1972), who treated iospilids as a subfamily of the
Phyllodocidae. Uschakov (1972) recognised four genera:
Iospilus, Iospilopsis, Pariospilis and Phalacrophorus, which together comprise seven species (Fauchald 1977). An identification guide provides descriptions of all genera are provided. No iospilids are
recorded from mainland Australian waters, although
Phalacrophorus pictus is recorded from waters of the
Australian Antarctic Territory (Hartman 1964). However, as with most pelagic polychaetes, iospilids undoubtedly have a wider distribution than is presently recorded and it is likely that iospilids do occur in Australian waters.
Description |
Identification tips |
Natural History |
Diversity |
Checklist |
References |
Identification guide
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