The Polychaetous Annelids of Alaska 
Olga Hartman 1 
INTRODUCTION 
This PAPER is based on the polychaetous an¬ 
nelids obtained by the Alaska King Crab Investi¬ 
gation, which was sponsored by the United 
States Fisheries Commission. The annelids were 
taken almost entirely from southern and south¬ 
western Alaska, from Port Ashton west to the 
western end of the Alaska Peninsula (Map I). 
In addition, some were obtained from scattered 
stations eastward to Icy Straits, near Pleasant 
Island, and to the north and west in the Bering 
Sea, north of St. Lawrence Island (Map II). 
The studies were conducted from September to 
November, 1940, and from February to August, 
1941. Bathymetric ranges were largely limited 
to shallow depths, including shore to 60 fathoms, 
but three stations represented by polychaetes 
were in depths of 100 to 150 fathoms. A general 
report of the investigation has been published 
(Investigation Staff, 1942). 
The intertidal areas of Alaska have heretofore 
been little explored for the annelid fauna. Ex¬ 
cept for the vast collections of the U.S.S. "Alba¬ 
tross” made by the Alaskan Salmon Commission 
during the summer of 1903 (of which much 
was dredged from deep water), the published 
records are quite limited, although they extend 
over many years (1821 to 1943). 
The collections of the present investigation 
comprise 99 species, including six new to 
science. There are 45 new records for Alaska, 
including three species from material in the 
authors collection. These, together with 168 
species (and seven questionable names) previ¬ 
ously recorded, bring the total number for 
1 Allan Hancock Foundation, University of Southern 
California. Manuscript received April 15, 1947. 
Alaska to 213 species plus the seven question¬ 
able names. These results are discussed in detail 
below. 
The various stations are listed and the known 
ecological data of each are given at the end of 
the systematic treatment. 
The bibliographic citations in the systematic 
section include the original description and such 
others as aid in the ready identification of the 
species. For most of the species originally de¬ 
scribed from the eastern Pacific the citations are 
Complete unless they are synonymized elsewhere. 
In all cases it is possible to consult all references 
for Alaska and environs from the data given. 
Acknowledgments: The collections on which 
the present work is based were obtained under 
the direction of Dr. Waldo L. Schmitt. The 
preliminary sorting of collections was performed 
by the staff of the Invertebrate Division of the 
United States National Museum, to whom 
thanks are extended. The two maps and figures 
1, 8, and 12 were done by Mr. Anker Petersen. 
The author is deeply indebted to the adminis¬ 
tration of the Allan Hancock Foundation for 
allowing time and facilities to conduct these 
studies. 
The specimens are deposited in the United 
States National Museum; a duplicate set is in 
the collections of the Allan Hancock Founda¬ 
tion, University of Southern California. 
HISTORICAL RESUME 
The literature on the polychaete fauna of 
Alaska is enriched largely through the results of 
expeditionary ventures that had other objec¬ 
tives. Chronologically considered, the data are 
as follows. The first annelids were described by 
3 
