Ampharetidae are a
familyIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
of
terebellidTerebellida make up a suborder of the "bristle worm" class . Together with the Sabellida, the Spionida and a some enigmatic families of unclear relations , they make up the order Canalipalpata, one of the three main clades of polychaetes.Almost all are marine organisms...
"bristle worm" (
classIn biological classification, class is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, order, family, genus, and species, with class fitting between phylum and order...
Polychaeta). As such, they belong to the
orderIn scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
CanalipalpataCanalipalpata, also known as bristle-footed annelids or fan-head worms, is an order of Polychaete worms, with 31 families in it including the tubeworms , fanworms and a family of deep-sea worms associated with hydrothermal vents .The Canalipalpata have no teeth or jaws. Most are filter-feeders....
, one of the three main
cladeA clade is a term used in modern alpha taxonomy, the scientific classification of living and fossil organisms, to describe a monophyletic group, defined as a group consisting of a single common ancestor and all its descendants.[The term "monophyletic group" is used in this article...]
s of polychaetes. They appear to be most closely related to the peculiar alvinellids (Alvinellidae) which inhabit the
deep seaThe deep sea, or deep layer, is the lowest layer in the ocean, existing below the thermocline, at a depth of 1000 fathoms or more. Little or no light penetrates this area of the ocean, and most of its organisms rely on falling organic matter produced in the photic zone for subsistence...
, and somewhat less closely to the well-known trumpet worms (Pectinariidae). These three appear to form one of the main
cladeA clade is a term used in modern alpha taxonomy, the scientific classification of living and fossil organisms, to describe a monophyletic group, defined as a group consisting of a single common ancestor and all its descendants.[The term "monophyletic group" is used in this article...]
s of terebellids.
Almost all are (like polychaetes in general) marine organisms; some inhabit brackish or
freshwaterFreshwater is naturally occurring water on the surface such as bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground in aquifers and underground rivers. Freshwater is characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts...
though. Most are smallish deposit feeders which frequently live in small tubes they build from mud or similar substrate, or burrow in the sand.
The Ampharetidae are divided into three subfamilies: the large Ampharetinae, the much maller Melinninae, and the
monotypicIn biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one type. The usage differs slightly between botany and zoology:In botany, a monotypic taxon is a taxon that has only one species: Ginkgo is a monotypic genus, while Ginkgoaceae is a monotypic family...
Uschakovinae. Also, there are some ampharetid
generaGenera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
incertae sedisIncertae sedis , abbreviated "inc. sed.", is a term used to define a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined.-Examples:The taxonomy for humans is usually recognized as follows:...
or in a quite basal position:
- Aryandes
- Pavelius
- Rytocephalus