page_title: Terebellida
section_title: Systematics
hierarchical_section_title: Terebellida / Systematics
caption_attribution_description: Tube of Lanice Conchilega on the tidal flats of the dutch waddensea .
context_page_description: Terebellida make up an order of the Polychaeta class, commonly referred to as "bristle worms". Together with the Sabellida, the Spionida and some enigmatic families of unclear taxonomic relationship, they make up the subclass Canalipalpata, one of the three main clades of polychaetes. Like most polychaetes, almost all members of the Terebellida are marine organisms. Most are small, sessile detritivores which live in small tubes they build from mud or similar substrate, or burrow in the sand. Their central nervous system displays characteristic apomorphies.
context_section_description: There is little consensus on the number of families. Some treatments accept as little as five, while other authors list over a dozen. Here, the more inclusive view of the Terebellida is followed, based on a major review of polychaete systematics. Cladistic studies have hitherto only analyzed a rather small proportion of polychaetes; hence it may be that some of the families today included in Terebellida by most authors will eventually be again recognized to belong elsewhere.
  Acrocirridae (acrocirrids, sometimes placed in Spionida suborder)
  Alvinellidae (alvinellids)
  Ampharetidae (ampharetids)
  Ampharetinae (ampharetines, a subfamily)
  Cirratulidae (cirratulids, sometimes placed in Spionida suborder)
  Ctenodrilidae (ctenodrilids, sometimes own suborder Ctenodrilida)
  Fauveliopsidae (fauveliopsids, sometimes own suborder Fauveliopsida)
  Flabelligeridae (flabelligerids, sometimes Flabelligerida suborder)
  Flotidae (flotids, sometimes included in Flabelligeridae)
  Pectinariidae (pectinariids, commonly referred to as trumpet worms or ice cream cone worms)
  Poeobiidae (poeobiids, sometimes own suborder Poeobiida or included in Flabelligerida suborder)
  Sternaspidae (sternaspids, sometimes own suborder Sternaspida)
  Terebellidae (terebellids, commonly referred to as spaghetti worms)
  Trichobranchidae (trichobranchids)
caption: Living tube of Lanice conchilega (Terebellidae) in the Wadden Sea at low tide.
  Such structures can be preserved as fossils.
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