Hoffmeister, 1843
Type species Lumbricus gordioides Hartmann, 1821
Number of species 9. In NWE, one species:
Haplotaxis gordioides Hartmann, 1821
Description
Long, thread-like haplotaxids. Chaetae usually one or two per bundle, slightly sigmoid, thick, simple-pointed. Dorsal chaetae mostly smaller than ventral ones, or can even be lacking in some segments. Hence either eight, four or two chaetae per segment. Pharynx massive, muscular. In Brinkhurst and Jamieson, 1971, all species of Haplotaxidae were lumped in a single genus Haplotaxis. The last revision by Brinkhurst, 1988 left the genus only with species displaying apparent adaptations to carnivorous feeding.
Burrowing in sediment.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan.
Ecology
In freshwater.
Reproduction
Sexual only. Eggs laid in cocoons.
Literature
Hartmann, 1821: 45; Hoffmeister, 1843: 193; Hoffmeister, 1845: 40; Claparède, 1862: 275; Vejdovsky, 1884b: 49-50; Brinkhurst and Jamieson, 1971: 286-289; Chekanovskaya, 1981: 403; Hrabe, 1981: 116; Kasprzak, 1981: 210; Brinkhurst, 1988: 2250.