Flotidae

Flotidae
Buskiella abyssorum
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Annelida
Clade:	Pleistoannelida
Clade:	Sedentaria
Order:	Terebellida
Family:	Flotidae Buzhinskaja, 1996
Genera
Buskiella Flota ?

Flotidae is a family of pelagic polychaete worms, sometimes synonymized with Flabelligeridae, which they closely resemble. Other sources consider them the sister taxon to Flabelligeridae and closely allied to the latter group.[1][2]

Taxonomy

Flotidae originally contained one genus, Flota, from which it derives its name, but a 2007 study also placed Buskiella in the family, and moved all (two) Flota species to Buskiella.[3][4][1] The family would thus contains one genus and three species, listed below.

• Buskiella abyssorum McIntoch, 1885
• Buskiella flabelligera (Hartman, 1967) formerly Flota flabelligera
• Buskiella vitjasi (Buzhinskaja, 1977) formerly Flota vitjasi

Similarities and differences with Flabelligeridae

A 2008 paper analyzing the phylogenetics of flotid polychaetes found that flotids are nested within Flabelligeridae.[1] However, defenders of the separate family status of Flotidae cite several morphological differences.[5]

References

1. Zhadan, A. E., and A. B. Tzetlin. "Polychaetes from deep pelagic zone of the Mid-Atlantic ridge." Invertebr. Zool 5 (2008): 97-109.
2. Osborn, Karen J.; Rouse, Greg W. (2008-10-01). "Multiple origins of pelagicism within Flabelligeridae (Annelida)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 49 (1): 386–392. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.05.042. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 18588991.
3. Salazar-V. allejo, S. I.; Carrera-P. arra, L. F.; Fauchald, K. (2008). "Phylogenetic affinities of the Flabelligeridae (Annelida, Polychaeta)". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. 46 (3): 203–215. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0469.2008.00464.x. ISSN 0947-5745.
4. Salazar-Vallejo, S. I.; Zhadan, A. E. (Jan 2007). "Revision of Buskiella McIntosh, 1885 (including Flota Hartman, 1967), and description of its trifid organ (Polychaeta: Flotidae)". Invertebrate Zoology (in Russian). 4 (1): 65–82. doi:10.15298/invertzool.04.1.06. ISSN 1812-9250.
5. Buzhinskaja, Galina N. (2006). "On the morphology of the genus Flota Hartman, 1967 and corroboration of the family status of Flotidae Buzhinskaja, 1996 (Polychaeta)" (PDF). Zoosystematica Rossica. 15 (1). St. Petersburg, Russia: 7–17. doi:10.31610/zsr/2006.15.1.7.