Annelida, mainly consisting of marine Polychaeta and in faunal and
partly parasitic Clitellata, is one the most significant metazoan
taxa. Its more than 20.000 described species invade nearly all
habitats and play a central role in marine benthic systems as well
as in terrestrial soil communities. Annelids include all
soft-bodied segmented worm-like organisms and have been recognized
as a separate "phylum" for almost 200 years.
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.
General
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