Delachaux, 1921
Description
Small polychaetes. A pair of thick palps on anterior end. The first (pharyngeal) segment without any chaetae like in oligochaetes, while each segment from II to VIII bears a pair of prominent lateral parapodia, each with 1-7 finely serrated hair chaetae. Body terminating in small bilobed pygidium. Male and female reproductive organs present in one and the same individual like in oligochaetes, without any distinct external structures. Length 0.47-0.63 mm, segment number 8. Differing from Oligochaeta and Aeolosomatida in having paired palps and parapodia.
Crawling on substratum in interstitial crevices. Able to swim.
Distribution
Europe, North America.
Ecology
In freshwater, groundwater.
Reproduction
Sexual.
Literature
Delachaux, 1921: 3-11; Jouin, 1973: 575-579, Fig. 1A,B; Morselli et al., 1998: 213-216.