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Goniadidae			Family Goniadidae (goniadid) Phyllodocida (Annelida: Polychaeta)

About Family Goniadidae polychaetes in New Zealand.
How to recognise the family:	The goniadids are often smaller, more slender worms than the glycerids, are morphological more diverse, and differ in parapodial and jaw structure. Only the posterior region of the body has parapodia with notopodial lobes and these lobes are distinctly smaller than, and well separated from, the neuropodial lobes. The proboscis is similarly papillated to glycerids but the jaws at the end are more complex, consisting of two large toothed structures, the macrognaths, and many smaller elements, the micrognaths. In Goniada there are additionally a series of dark chitinous chevrons towards the base of the proboscis. These can often be seen through the body wall. Glycinde and most other genera lack chevrons. Goniadids are usually somewhat dorsoventrally flattened compared to glycerids, and often with dark pigment bands. An anal cirri pair is present. Goniadids, like glycerids, have an open blood circulatory system without major vessels. Goniadids are probably predators of other small polychaetes but little is known of their diet. Adult size: To 260 mm in length, though usually less than 50 mm.
How to recognise the New Zealand genera:	A family with fewer species but more genera than the related glycerids, although most species belong to genera Goniada and Glycinde. Glycinde lack jaw chevrons; notochaetae are few and somewhat acicular. Glycinde dorsalis (Ehlers, 1904), Glycinde trifida (McIntosh, 1885), Glycinde hanseni Kirkegaard, 1995 have been recorded in New Zealand. Goniada has a series of dark chitinous chevrons towards the base of the proboscis. Goniada emerita Audouin & Milne Edwards, 1833, Goniada brunnea Treadwell, 1906 , Goniada maorica Benham, 1932, and Goniada grahami Benham, 1932 have been recorded in New Zealand.
Quick pick shore species:	No information
Possible misidentifications:	Glyceridae.
Distributions, lifestyle, and habitat:	Throughout New Zealand. The small goniadid Glycinde dorsalis occurs low on the shore in fine sand in estuaries. Glycinde trifida was reported from the shallow subtidal. Other goniadids occur offshore in soft sediments. Usually subtidal from shallow water to continental shelf and rarely above neap low tide mark.
Abundance:	Moderate.
Taxonomic note:	New Zealand goniadids are in need of review.
References:	(Goniada maorica, G. grahami in Benham 1932: p553-566, f1-9), (Day & Hutchings 1979: p114), (Ehlers 1904: p38-40, P5.12-17), (Glycinde hanseni in Kirkegaard 1995: p27, f14), (Goniada brunnea, G. emerita in Knox 1960a: p136-138, f233-238), (Glycinde trifida in McIntosh 1885: p341). (Full citations at Family pages literature cited list.)

Species in the guide:	Rock Species: None for this family.
	Sand Species: Glycinde dorsalis
	Shell Species: None for this family.
Internet  sources:	GOOGLE Search |   AlltheWeb Search | CISTI |   CBIF BiOSC Gateway | GOBASE Molecular | GenBank |
	Family in Ubio Taxonomic Name Server |  PubMed | Scirus | Zoological Record |
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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. Last modified by G. Read, 25/07/2004    (dd/mm/yy)