Contains 67 original papers by nearly 100 of the world’s leading specialists. Together with abstracts and literature references for 37 presentations not represented by papers, this volume provides complete coverage of the Conference and a comprehensive overview of modern research on the polychaete annelids, one of the most important groups of marine invertebrates and constituents of marine benthos. Taxonomic and subject indices of all papers and abstracts provide ready access to the contained information. Richly illustrated, this book is provided with numerous line drawings, and photomicrographs, electron micrographs. Over 60 taxa are newly described or reassigned, and detailed reviews, revisions or redescriptions are provided for five families, one subfamily and numerous genera and species, with many illustrations of new and redescribed taxa and a pictorial key to the maglonids of Thailand.

Contains 67 original papers by nearly 100 of the world's leading specialists. Together with abstracts and literature references for 37 presentations not represented by papers, this volume provides complete coverage of the Conference and a comprehensive overview of modern research on the polychaete annelids, one of the most important groups of marine invertebrates and constituents of marine benthos. Taxonomic and subject indices of all papers and abstracts provide ready access to the contained information. Richly illustrated, this book is provided with numerous line drawings, and photomicrographs, electron micrographs. Over 60 taxa are newly described or reassigned, and detailed reviews, revisions or redescriptions are provided for five families, one subfamily and numerous genera and species, with many illustrations of new and redescribed taxa and a pictorial key to the maglonids of Thailand.

Recently, evidence has been accumulated which shows that some of the groups formerly regarded as independent "phyla" such as Pogonophora (now recognized as Siboglinidae), Echiura, Myzostomida and perhaps Sipuncula, are most probably nothing else than greatly modified Annelida. The extreme morphological diversity found especially in Polychaeta displays the plasticity of a simple segmented organisation that basically is nothing else but a serial repetition of identical units. Thus, annelids are highly important to our understanding of fundamental questions about morphological and adaptive diversity, as well as clarifying evolutionary changes and phylogenetic relationships. The book aims to summarize our knowledge on Polychaetes polychaetes and their allies and gives an overview of recent advances gained by studies that employed conventional and modern methods plus, increasingly and importantly, the use of molecular markers and computer-assisted kinship analyses. It also reflects the state of art in polychaete sciences and presents new questions and controversies. As such it will significantly influence the direction of research on Polychaeta and their related taxa.

In July 2001 experts from all around the world met in Reykjavik, Iceland to discuss various issues of polychaete biology. In particular the latest developments in cladistic inference of polychaete phylogeny were presented. Some studies applied recent molecular techniques, revealing unknown genetic relationships between the different families of polychaetous annelids. This volume is of interest to specialists and students seeking an introduction to the latest developments in the field of systematics and ecology of polychaetous annelids. This book is one in a series presenting results from the International Polychaete conferences.

A comprehensive account of Polychaetes in Australia. Based on nearly 2400 references, the authors reveal the wealth of diversity in the largely unknown world of these worm groups, in terms of their morphology, behaviour, reproduction and significance in marine ecosystems.

In this Special Issue, we address the state of the art of the systematics of the main annelid groups and the improvements in the diversity they hold, with special emphasis on the latest discoveries in well-studied areas, expeditions to unsurveyed areas or environments, or the use of novel techniques that allow for the improvement of biodiversity knowledge. We are hoping that this Special Issue will provide a platform facilitating a review of current knowledge on the subject, identifying current research problems, as well as indicating directions and research trends for the future.