Kinberg, 1856
Description:
Scale worms (superfamily Aphroditoidea) with spinning glands in notopodia. The body is usually elongated. Nephridial papillae not seen. Prostomium with 0, 2 or 3 antennae and a pair of palps. Eyes absent, or, if present, the anterior pair sometimes enlarged and situated on large eyestalks. Facial tubercle absent. Pharynx with papillae and two pairs of jaws. Scales present on chaetigers 1, 3, 4 and then every second segment to the end of the body. All chaetae are simple. Pygidium with a pair of anal cirri (Acoetidae).
These worms are reported to be mobile and carnivorous. Little is known about the biology and ecology of this mainly tropical family. The tubes are thick and tough, constructed of threads from the spinning glands with attached sand and mud particles, and in large examples can extend about a metre into the substratum.
After: Chambers and Muir, 1997.
The following taxa of this family occur in the region:
Genus Panthalis
Panthalis oerstedi