Audouin and Milne-Edwards, 1833
Description
Body delicate and transparent.
Prostomium with three antennae and two similar palps. A single pair of very big, lensed eyes.
First segment dorsally incomplete, with three pairs of short tentacular cirri ventrally. The first parapodial segment following with reduced parapodia but the fifth and succeeding segments with well-developed uniramous parapodial lobes, terminating in two cirriform appendages. Chaetae all slender compounds. Dorsal and ventral cirri leaf-like.
Pygidium with two cirri.
Pharynx eversible, with two lateral horns. No jaws.
Size
Length up to 60 mm for 60 segments.
Colour
Transparent, eyes red.
Depth range
Pelagic.
Distribution
Northern North Sea, Atlantic Ocean; possibly world-wide.