(Claparède, 1868)
Description:
Body slender.
Prostomium more or less bilobed, with two or four eyes, posteriorly rounded, without an obvious caruncle.
The first notopodium without chaetae.
Anterior parapodia with capillary chaetae only. From neuropodium 8-11 also 2-5 tridentate hooded hooks and a few spines present.
Notopodial postchaetal lobes are small and triangular. Neuropodial postchaetal lobes are even smaller.
Gills from chaetiger 2 to near the body end. They are long and cirriform, reaching the dorsal mid-line; not fused with the notopodial lappets.
Pygidium with four oval cirri (M. mecznikowianus-detail).
Size:
Up to 40 mm for 48 segments.
Colour:
Segments dorsally with elliptical patterns of brown pigment.
Habitat:
Fine sand and mixed bottoms.
Distribution:
Skagerrak, North Atlantic to Mediterranean and Black sea, North Pacific.