The list of polychaete worms of South Africa is a list of species that form a part of the class Polychaeta (Phylum Annelida) fauna of South Africa. The list follows the SANBI listing.
Polychaeta (/ˌpɒlɪˈkiːtə/) is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (/ˈpɒlɪˌkiːts/). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. More than 10,000 species are described in this class. Common representatives include the lugworm (Arenicola marina) and the sandworm or clam worm Alitta.
Polychaetes as a class are robust and widespread, with species that live in the coldest ocean temperatures of the abyssal plain, to forms which tolerate the extremely high temperatures near hydrothermal vents. Polychaetes occur throughout the Earth's oceans at all depths, from forms that live as plankton near the surface, to a 2- to 3-cm specimen (still unclassified) observed by the robot ocean probe Nereus at the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the deepest known spot in the Earth's oceans. Only 168 species (less than 2% of all polychaetes) are known from fresh waters. (Full article...)
Order Amphinomida
Family Amphinomidae
Family Euphrosinidae
Order Echiuroidea
Family Echiuridae
Order Eunicida
Family Dorvilleidae
Family Eunicidae
Family Lumbrineridae
Family Oenonidae
Family Onuphidae
Order Phyllodocida
Family Acoetidae
Family Alciopidae
Family Aphroditidae
Family Chrysopetalidae
Family Eulepethidae
Family Glyceridae
Family Goniadidae
Family Hesionidae
Family Iospilidae
Family Lopadorrhynchidae
Family Nereididae
Family Paralacydonidae
Family Pholoidae
Family Phyllodocidae
Family Pilargidae
Family Polynoidae
Family Pontodoridae
Family Sigalionidae
Family Sphaerodoridae
Family Syllidae
Family Tomopteridae
Family Typhloscolecidae
Family Nephtyidae
Order Sabellida
Family Fabriciidae
Family Oweniidae
Family Sabellariidae
Family Sabellidae
Family Serpulidae
Order Spionida
Family Chaetopteridae
Family Magelonidae
Family Spionidae
Family Poecilochaetidae
Order Terebellida
Family Ampharetidae
Family Cirratulidae
Family Flabelligeridae
Family Pectinariidae
Family Sternaspidae
Family Terebellidae
Family Trichobranchidae
Order Scolecida
Family Arenicolidae
Family Capitellidae
Family Cossuridae
Family Maldanidae
Family Opheliidae
Family Orbiniidae
Family Paraonidae
Family Scalibregmatidae