Flabelligeridae is a family of polychaete worms, known asbristle-cage worms, notable for their cephalic cage: long slenderchaetae forming a fan-like arrangement surrounding the eversible (able to be turned inside-out) head.[1][2] Unlike many polychaetes, they also have large, pigmented, complex eyes.[3][4]
These worms live under stones and are known to burrow into sand.[5] They have a cosmopolitan distribution and live in a variety of marine habitats, from thedeep sea toshallow coastal regions.[6]
The first species wasAmphridite plumosa, described from Norway. Flabelligerids were placed in various similar polychaete families until Saint-Joseph erected the family (under the name Flabelligeriens) in 1894.[5][7]
Mazopherusa is a possible fossil example from the Carboniferous; other fossil material is only dubiously assigned to the family.[1] The CambrianIotuba also may belong to the family, however it also appears similar toAcrocirridae.[8]
^Zhang, ZhiFei; Smith, Martin R.; Ren, XinYi (8 February 2023). "The Cambrian cirratuliform Iotuba denotes an early annelid radiation".Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.290 (1992).doi:10.1098/rspb.2022.2014.
