Audouin & Milne Edwards, 1834
Description:
Body long and thin with numerous segments.
Prostomium conical, slightly longer than wide. Peristomium a little longer than the following segments.
Parapodium with a short, rounded prechaetal lobe; postchaetal lobe longer, tongue-shaped, projecting obliquely upward in posterior segments. Anterior 20-30 parapodia with winged capillary chaetae and compound multidentate hooded hooks. Rest of parapodia with few capillary chaetae and simple hooded hooks. Aciculae and chaetae yellow to amber coloured.
Mandibles Y-shaped, whitish iridescent. Maxillae I: hooked forceps; maxillae II: 4-5 teeth each; maxillae III: 1-2 teeth each; maxillae IV: each with one tooth.
Size:
Up to 300 mm for numerous segments.
Colour:
Pale pink, orange or brown, iridescent.
Habitat:
In sand, mud, shell fragments, gravel, and mixtures of these, coralligene, under stones, amongst algae and sea grass (Posidonia and Zostera ) from the intertidal zone to a depth of about 4800 m.
Distribution:
Worldwide in temperate and warm waters. Whole North Sea to Skagerrak.