[Systematics and Taxonomy]

Benthic Polychaetes of British Columbia and Washington

An evolving update
Last version: January 1st, 1996

By JM (Lobo) Orensanz

This informal document (which does not constitute a publication and should not be cited as such) contains an updated list of benthic polychaetes cited for Washington and British Columbia, the northern section of the Oregon Biogeographic Province. The basis for this list are the two key publications by Banse and Hobson (1974) and Hobson and Banse (1981). Only references published subsequently to those publications were cited. Updates (some of which were incorporated by Kozloff, 1987) include nomenclatorial changes, new synonymies and additions at the familial, generic or specific levels. Polychaete taxonomy is changing fast, and it is difficult for a non-specialist to keep updated on innovations. It is my intention to keep this file regularly updated, and to distribute it freely upon request. In return, I expect my correspondents (polychaete specialists or else) to keep me informed of changes I might not be aware of, or to point to errors in the file.

Polychaetes are increasingly used in the monitoring of marine environmental quality (Pocklington & Wells, 1992), and this is in part the reason for a growing need of correct taxonomic identifications. I expect this "evolving update" to be of use for polychaete specialists, environmental scientists and marine biologists in general.

It is my opinion that systematic catalogues (not identification handbooks) are an outdated kind of instrument. They should gradually be replaced by regional or global computerized data-bases incorporating updated information on nomenclatorial changes, type repositories, geographic and ecological distribution, and bibliography. Funds for those endeavours are, however, scarce, and it will be still sometime before our Natural History Museums have access to the information processing capabilities available at your neigborhood's supermarket.

Prof. Banse carefully read a first version of this update (an amazingly boring task!), contributing substantially to its debugging (to the last missing umlaut...)

J.M. (Lobo) Orensanz

School of Fisheries, WH-10
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Phone: (206) 685-3609
FAX: (206) 685-7471
Email: Lobo@max.u.washington.edu

Technical Notes

The following abbreviations are utilized:

B&H: Banse and Hobson (1974)

H&B: Hobson and Banse (1981)

CPF: Canadian Pacific Fauna, Berkeley and Berkeley (1948, 1952)

Criteria for selection of references in the annotated list include:

- A substantial systematic discussion at the family, genus or species level.

- A redescription of the species (even if it not includes an update of the nomenclature), especially if it was based on type specimens or on materials from the type area or its vicinity.

- Changes in nomenclature, definition or synonymy of a species

- New additions

Nature of updates is indicated on the left margin of the list, as:

***: additions published after B&H (ERRANTIA) or H&B (SEDENTARIA and ARCHIANNELIDA)

**: Change in the definition, synonymy or specific name

*: Change in generic name (cases in which subgenus was raised to the genus level are excluded)

Q: Status considered questionable

In total the list includes 509 taxa at the specific level (including species whose taxonomic status is considered questionable), up from 468 in B&H and H&B combined. Number of updates is as follows:

***: 46 (9% of species listed)

**: 24 (4.7%)

*: 23 (4.5%)

Q: 29 (5.7%)

In all, 120 of the species (23.5%) include some kind of update.

"Questionable" taxa correspond in most cases to species recorded from world-wide areas, likely to represent clusters of species.

Some of the additions were already included in the keys of B&H and H&B, as the authors expected them to occur in the area.

General References

Note: References relative to specific citations are listed within the body of the update.

Banse,K. & Hobson,K.D. 1974. Benthic errantiate polychaetes of British Columbia and Washington. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 185, 111 pages.

Berkeley,E. and Berkeley,C. 1948. ANNELIDA. POLYCHAETA ERRANTIA. Can. Pac. Fauna 9b(1), 100 pages.

Berkeley,E. and Berkeley,C. 1952. ANNELIDA. POLYCHAETA SEDENTARIA. Can. Pac. Fauna 9b(2), 139 pages.

Hobson,K.D. & Banse,K. 1981. Sedentariate and archiannelid polychaetes of British Columbia and Washington. Can. Bull. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 209, 144 pages.

Kozloff,E.N. 1987. Marine Invertebrates of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 511 pages. Chapter 8, Phylum ANNELIDA: Class POLYCHAETA, pages 109-169.

Pocklington,P. & Wells,P.G. 1992. Polychaetes- Key taxa for marine environmental quality monitoring. Mar. Poll. Bull. 24: 593-598.

INDEX TO FAMILIES

[Family page-no applies to printed copy only]

"ERRANTIA"

APHRODITIDAE 1, POLYNOIDAE 1, PHOLOIDAE 3, SIGALIONIDAE 3, CHRYSOPETALIDAE 3, AMPHINOMIDAE 4, EUPHROSINIDAE 4, LACYDONIIDAE 4, PHYLLODOCIDAE 4, HESIONIDAE 8, PILARGIDAE 9, SYLLIDAE 9, NEREIDIDAE 11, NEPHTYIDAE 12, SPHAERODORIDAE 13, GLYCERIDAE 13, GONIADIDAE 13, DORVILLEIDAE 14, IPHITIMIDAE 14, DINOPHILIDAE 15, LUMBRINERIDAE 15, OENONIDAE 16, ONUPHIDAE 16, EUNICIDAE 17

"SEDENTARIA"

ORBINIIDAE 18, QUESTIDAE 18, PARAONIDAE 18, APISTOBRANCHIDAE 19, SPIONIDAE 19, TROCHOCHAETIDAE 22, MAGELONIDAE 22, CHAETOPTERIDAE 22, COSSURIDAE 22, CIRRATULIDAE 23, CTENODRILIDAE 23, FLABELLIGERIDAE 24, ACROCIRRIDAE 24, SCALIBREGMIDAE 24, OPHELIIDAE 25, STERNASPIDAE 25, CAPITELLIDAE 25, PARERGODRILIDAE 26, ARENICOLIDAE 26, MALDANIDAE 26, OWENIIDAE 28, SABELLARIIDAE 28, AMPHICTENIDAE 28, AMPHARETIDAE 29, TEREBELLIDAE 30, TRICHOBRANCHIDAE 32, SABELLIDAE 32, SERPULIDAE 34, SPIRORBIDAE 35

"ARCHIANNELIDA"

PROTODRILIDAE 37, PROTODRILOIDAE 37, SACCOCIRRIDAE 38, NERILLIDAE 38, DIURODRILIDAE 38

Note: "ERRANTIA", "SEDENTARIA" and "ARCHIANNELIDA" are not natural groups, and do not constitute true taxa. They are used mostly because of tradition and conveniency.

Benthic polychaetes of British Columbia and Washington - The list itself.

Original text copyright © 1996 J. M. Orensanz

Converted to html by Geoff Read April 1996
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