Fabricinae (Feather-duster Polychaetous Annelids) in the Pacific^ 
Olga Hartman^ 
The upper layers of mud in tidal basins 
such as sloughs and lagoons of various parts 
of the world are often abundantly populated 
by minute worms of widely related annelids, 
for example, Streblospio henedictiW of the 
family Spionidae, Capitella capitata (Fabricius) 
of the family Capitellidae, and several species 
of Sabellidae, subfamily Fabricinae, discussed 
below. Estuarine worms of this kind may 
occur in prodigious numbers over consider- 
able areas. Since they are usually very small 
(a few millimeters long), inconspicuously 
colored, and covered with slime and debris, 
they are easily overlooked. Because of their 
abundance and slime-secreting properties 
they may be a factor of considerable import- 
ance in preventing soil transport. 
The Fabricinae are known from the Pacific 
from comparatively few, mostly isolated, 
records. The present study concerns some un- 
reported populations from California. In 
addition, other species of the subfamily from 
the Pacific are reviewed, and affinities of some 
others indicated. Monroika, a new name, is 
proposed for Manayunkia africana Monro, 
1939. There are new combinations in the 
genera Fabricia, Oridia, and Manayunkia. Fab- 
ricia limnicola is newly described. The illus- 
trations on the plate were prepared by Mr. 
Anker Petersen, staff artist of the Allan Han- 
cock Foundation. 
The family Sabellidae Malmgren comprises 
the subfamilies Sabellinae, with 16 to 18 
genera and well over 100 species, Fabricinae 
(below), Myxicolinae, with a single genus 
and about 7 species, and Lamellisabellinae, 
^ Contribution No. 74 of the Allan Hancock Foun- 
dation. Manuscript received August 11, 1950. 
2 Allan Hancock Foundation, University of South- 
ern California, Los Angeles, Calif. 
an aberrant, controversial category^ known 
for a single species, Lamellisabella zachsi 
Uschakow, from the northwest Pacific. 
The last named species is known through 
a single collection from the southern end of 
the Okhotsk Sea taken at 3,500 meters in 
gray-green mud (Uschakow, 1933: 205-208, 
2 figs.). A more complete description based 
on some of the same material is that by 
Johansson (1937: 23-26, 4 figs.) and the most 
recent discussion is by Ulrich (1950: 1-25). 
Uschakow regarded the species as an aberrant 
sabellid and erected for it the subfamily 
Lamellisabellinae. Johansson made anatomi- 
cal studies and concluded that the original 
account mistook dorsal for ventral sides. The 
originally named ventral collar thus became 
the head, or prostomium, with the contained 
central nervous system. The name Pogonofora 
was proposed for a new class of organism. 
Ulrich reviewed the previous accounts, and 
concluded that the species is even more re- 
mote from the annelids than previously sup- 
posed; he placed Pogonofora between Tenta- 
culata and Enteropneusta. 
The available evidence is not yet convinc- 
ing. Especially noteworthy is the fact that no 
one has ever seen the mouth. What was pre- 
sumed to be the brain in the collar lobe may 
represent a giant suboesophageal ganglion; 
the true brain and prostomium may lie well 
concealed by the tentacular crown. In some 
slender sabellids, these parts are difficult to 
see unless the tentacular crown is removed or 
specimens are fixed after removal from the 
tube. 
The major objections to regarding Lamel- 
^ A recent communication from Professor J. P. 
Moore, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa., 
has expressed a similar view with regard to Lamellisa- 
bella zachsi Uschakow. 
[ 379 } 
