Ehlers, 1864
Description:
Body small, elongate and flattened.
Prostomium usually obvious with three antennae and two palps. A caruncle may be present in some genera.
Mouth ventral, sometimes covered by a posterior lobe. Peristomium limited to lips.
First segment curved around prostomium with one or two pairs of tentacular cirri.
Parapodia biramous. Notopodial chaetae simple, either erect cylinders or broad and flat. Neuropodial chaetae compound. Dorsal and ventral cirri present.
Pygidium with one, two or three cirri.
Pharynx eversible, armed with two chitinous stylets (Chrysopetalidae).
Biology and ecology are not well known. These worms are presumed to be mobile carnivores. They have been found on various hard bottoms, intertidally or in the shallow subtidal zone, usually in warm waters.
After: Chambers and Muir, 1997.
The following taxa of this family occur in the region:
Genus Dysponetus
Genus Paleaonotus
Dysponetus caecus
Dysponetus paleophorus
Paleaonotus debilis