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Cossura consimilis			Cossuridae (cossurid) Scolecida (Annelida: Polychaeta)

Cossura  consimilis  Read, 2000.   Family Cossuridae
				Cossura consimilis [Click photo for picture page]
Habitat:	Intertidal. Soft shore. . Mud, muddy sands Infaunal. Depth range: 0-2330 (m). Salinity regime: Harbour-like variation. Microhabitat:  Little known but presumably free-burrowing near surface Tube: none
Occurrence:	Common. Density: 2000 (m2). Distribution in NZ: New Zealand wide, including deep-sea.
Feeding guild:	Selective surface deposit-feeding.
Diagnosis:	Genus Cossura in Family Cossuridae. Dorsal filament originating from ant. median surface of chaetiger 3. Ant. Region of at least 28 chaetigers, and adult body with a total of at least 90 chaetigers. Capillary chaetae only. Spine chaetae absent. Pygidium divided vertically into two lobes, with three long cirri. Colour: Pale body. Maximum size: 17 mm total length, 0.34 mm body width.
Notable aspect:	Single well-attached dorsal filament. Almost never lost when in preservative.
Comparisons:	There are no confusable taxa.
Taxonomy:	Not recorded from NZ until 1950's, and not described until 2000.
Distribution:	Endemic. Unknown. Awaiting resolution of Australian Cossura taxonomy
Biology:	Little known small thread-like worms. Occasionally common in the shallows of estuaries and harbours. Juveniles may be passive drifters postsettlement. Rarely collected intact
Best References:	Biology: No recommendation. Taxonomy: Read (2000) Taxonomy and distribution of a new Cossura species (Annelida: Polychaeta: Cossuridae) from New Zealand. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 113:1096-1110.

More  information:	Synonyms,  NZ records	Original figures	Original description details
	Genus diagnosis	More pictures	Further references (biology, etc)	Family Cossuridae
Internet  sources:	GOOGLE Search |   AlltheWeb Search | CISTI |   CBIF BiOSC Gateway | GOBASE Molecular | GenBank | Genus only in GenBank |
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The information provided by this page and by the pages of the "more information" links is held in a structured form for rapid and frequent updating and improvement. Descriptive text is compiled from a number of database fields, some of which may occasionally be empty. Data last edited 26/07/2004, and page last generated by G. Read, 27/07/2004    (dd/mm/yy)