Annelida and allies: Systematics and Taxonomy

Navigation - Home / Research /Taxonomy / Field-Trips - see
browser bottom bar

ANNELIDS AND ALLIES: SYSTEMATICS AND TAXONOMY

| Sipunculans | Annelids in brief |

Geographic faunal lists of Annelid species
Status of the Annelida. New developments and ideas towards phylogenies of the Annelida and allies.
Query the taxonomic hierarchy of Annelida according to ITIS, the North American-based Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Users can burrow down to genus and species level and generate reports with user-defined detail-levels.
Animalia including Annelida. Tree-style checklist to family-level presented by ABRS, The Australian Biological Resources Study Zoocat project ("Platypus" format).
Polychaeta Systematics
- World list of Polychaete families:- guide to the new, the old and the disappearing.
- Higher classification of Polychaete families.
- Glossary of Polychaete terminology.
- Terebellid Pista diagnostic difficulties.
- Misdiagnosis of pilargid Parandalia ocularis.
- Greg Rouse papers and data. The 'Cladistics and Polychaetes' paper (Dec, 1997), etc.
  Also an earlier page on 'The articulation of annelids' Fauchald and Rouse (1995).
- Cincinnati scolecodonts. Fossils of polychaete jaws.
- Chris Glasby Namanereid monograph. Download PDF files here.
- The New Zealand giant spionid Spio aequalis. - What is it and why can't it be found?
- New Zealand polychaetes
- Terebellida pages of Professor Torleif Holthe, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Families Pectinariidae, Ampharetidae, Alvinellidae, Terebellidae, and Trichobranchidae.
- Typosyllis summary information and index. Frank Licher's (2000) Typosyllis (Syllidae) revisionary monograph.
Pogonophorans, vestimentiferans, echiurans
Three former phyla, the first two, specialist groups adapted to sulphide-rich environments (vents & seeps), are nowadays regarded as belonging within the polychaetes. One as yet unrebutted classification places them both in their own family, Siboglinidae. However, this view has yet to penetrate universally, as evident in some of the links below. Echiurans are most probably annelids, probably very closely related to polychaetes also.
- Introduction to the Pogonophora including vent worms (at Berkeley)
- Vestimentifera and Pogonophora ("tree of life's" classifications). From Brusca & Brusca (1990), thus hardly worth visiting at present.
- Echiura (at Berkeley)
Oligochaete and Leech Systematics
- Mark Wetzel's Illinois site has some taxonomic pages including this checklist of North American Enchytraeidae.
- Kathy Coates has a Key to Grania enchytraeids and a list of marine enchytraeids.
- Class Hirudinea classification (Mark Siddall)
- Fredric R. Govedich's Australian leech pages at Monash University, has a species list of Australian and New Zealand leeches.
- Subterranean aquatic oligochaetes (in Italy).
- Aquatic oligochaetes at Demidov's Yaroslavl State University. Russian oligochaetes species lists with links to photographs and figures.
- More contributions awaited!
Sipunculans and annelid allies
Are the sipunculan worms related to the annelids? After all they were once included therein. Well, probably not. Morphological and molecular analyses do not place sipunculans close to the annelids. Rather they might have molluscan affinities.
- Introduction to the Sipuncula (at Berkeley)
- Sipuncula Taxa with Synonyms by Ed Cutler and Joel Hallan. Also a list of Sipuncula higher taxa.
  [Documents gone or moved as at April 2000]
- Taxonomy and Biology of Sipunculans ..., Dissert. by Jorgen Hylleberg
  [Document gone or moved as at April 2000].
- More contributions awaited!

Once-over-lightly introductory outlines on Annelids.

The many university course pages and textbook regurgitations have been ignored unless there is original content.

Tree-of-life Annelid page - list of orders only as yet.
Introduction to the Annelida (at Berkeley)- Nice try, but seriously needs updating.
Annelida internet resources - BIOSIS links to many annelid places, mostly linked here also.
Sea worms - various.
Annelida - textbook extract on annelids.
Annelid course at University of Sydney, including reproduction. With colour photographs [Link URLs updated 1Feb'99].
Class Polychaeta at University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web (has some pictures).

Online 1996. Last update 28 August 2000 by Geoff Read

Return to top