Levinsen, 1884
Type species Monopylephorus rubroniveus Levinsen, 1884
Number of species 9. In freshwater of NWE, two species:
Monopylephorus irroratus (Verrill, 1873)
Monopylephorus limosus (Hatai, 1898)
Description
Smooth red, pink or whitish worms. Chaetae mostly bifids with shorter upper tooth, or with subequal teeth, or simple-pointed; hair chaetae present in some species. No modified genital chaetae. Male pores in XI, and spermathecal pores, in 9/10, can be close to each other pairwise, or fused into unpaired median pores. Coelomocytes abundant. Differing from the other genera of Rhyacodrilinae in the anatomy of reproductive system (rudimentary or absent vas deferens, tubular atrium covered with prostatic tissue, ejaculatory duct ending in pseudopenes, etc.).
Burrowing in sediment or crawling on its surface.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan.
Ecology
In marine and brackish water, occasionally in freshwater with saline or waste pollution.
Reproduction
Sexual only. Eggs laid in cocoons.
Literature
Levinsen, 1884: 225; Goodrich, 1892: 474; Smith, 1900: 44; Boldt, 1926: 177; Brinkhurst and Jamieson, 1971: 555-556; Chekanovskaya, 1981: 358-359; Kasprzak, 1981: 146; Baker and Brinkhurst, 1981: 941-942; Finogenova, 1982a: 6.