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Syllidae			Family Syllidae (syllid) Phyllodocida (Annelida: Polychaeta)

About Family Syllidae polychaetes in New Zealand.
How to recognise the family:	The syllids are slender, colourful polychaetes which are common but cryptic residents on sessile marine growths. They are a fascinating group known for their unique and varied reproductive forms and striking colour patterns, and are some of the most beautiful of polychaetes. Syllids are usually of small size and delicate in appearance, typified by forms with long thin antennae and conspicuous dorsal cirri that stand partly upright from the body and which may be annulated. The prostomium has three antennae, of which the median one is posterior-most, a pair of palps directed somewhat ventrally, and one or two pairs of eyes. The proboscis has a chitinous front-edge and often one mid-dorsal peg-like tooth, or with an additional circlet of teeth (the trepan), and is followed by a enlarged gizzard-like structure, the proventriculus, which is usually visible through the body wall. The peristomium has one or two pairs of tentacular cirri. The parapodia have only one lobe below the dorsal cirri, and the ventral cirri are small or absent. Notopodia may develop in reproductive forms. The chaetae are a mixture of simple capillaries and compound falcigers with short and long blades. There are two or three anal cirri. The New Zealand syllid fauna is largely unexplored. Adult size: Odontosyllis polycera and a few other syllids are sturdy polychaetes several centimetres long, whereas the majority of species are very fragile worms around 20 mm or less in length.
How to recognise the New Zealand genera:	See species notes. The family Syllidae is divided into four subfamilies but it should be noted that the separation between the Eusyllinae and Syllinae genera may not be soundly based phylogenetically. The Exogoninae include species living near the surface in sand, and are very small forms with reduced appendages and partially fused palps, notable for the neat egg arrays often seen attached on the backs of females. The Autolytinae have partially fused palps, lack ventral cirri, and have a circle of teeth on the proboscis. The adults may grow chains of reproductive individuals of specialised form. These become free-swimming at night, the males have elongate branched palps (Polybostrichus form, once named as a separate genus), and the mated females continue to swim in the daytime plankton carrying the developing eggs in a large ventral sac (Sacconereis form). The Eusyllinae have partially fused palps whereas the Syllinae have separated palps. Syllinae dorsal cirri are annulated. Syllinae and Autolytinae are believed to be sucking carnivores of hydroids and other colonial invertebrates, whereas Eusyllinae and Exogoninae are surface-grazing omnivores.
Quick pick shore species:	The largest and best-known New Zealand intertidal syllid is Odontosyllis polycera (Schmarda, 1861), notable for its thick, black-banded body and the large flap behind the head. Reproductive adults develop long chaetae and mate while free-swimming at night, as do many syllids. Another striking species is Clavisyllis alternata Knox, 1957, characterised by inflated dorsal cirri, and mislabelled as a pisionid in Morton & Miller (1973: p177). Sphaerosyllis kerguelensis McIntosh, 1855 may be the commonest exogonin on soft sediments. A further species, S. nathani San Martin and L=pez, 1998 has long surface papillae.
Possible misidentifications:	None
Distributions, lifestyle, and habitat:	Throughout New Zealand. Intertidal and subtidal ranging across the continental shelf. Living on the surface and in crevices of algae, sponges, hydroids, ascidians, etc., on the undersides of unsilted boulders, and also surface-creeping in soft sediments.
Abundance:	Very common in shallow waters, but hidden amongst epifauna.
Taxonomic note:	Worldwide there are problems with taxonomy of the group related largely to rather uncritical creation of many new names in the past. There are an enormous number of species to deal with nevertheless. The family also includes the former Calamyzidae and the Levidoridae. The large genus Typosyllis has recently been revised by Licher (2000). Distinctive subtidal species include large ribbon-like Trypanosyllis gigantea (McIntosh, 1885) and Ambylosyllis species which have a few rather triangular segments and very long cirri.
References:	(Augener 1924b: p357-399, f7), (Benham 1915a: p161-162, f1-2), (Daly 1975: p327-344, f1-8, P1), (Ehlers 1904: p19-25, P3.1-9), (Gidholm 1965: p1-42, f1-14, P1-7), (Gidholm 1967: p157-213, f1-31), (Knox 1957: p493-496, f1-2), (Knox 1960a: p99-111, f92-131), (Kudenov & Harris 1995: p1-97, f1.1-34), (Licher 2000), (McIntosh 1885: p193-195, P15a.14, 30.1-3, 33.4, 34a.7), (Malaquin 1893: p1-477, f1-13, P1-14), (Morton & Miller 1973: p222-224, f59.8, 75, 187.1, P9.4), (San Martin and L=pez, 1998: 241-244, f1), (Schmarda 1861: p70, 72, P28.219). (Full citations at Family pages literature cited list.)

Species in the guide:	Rock Species: Odontosyllis polycera
	Sand Species: None for this family.
	Shell Species: None for this family.
Internet  sources:	GOOGLE Search |   AlltheWeb Search | CISTI |   CBIF BiOSC Gateway | GOBASE Molecular | 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. Last modified by G. Read, 25/07/2004    (dd/mm/yy)