Sabellariidae is a family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of marine polychaete

Polychaete

The Polychaeta or polychaetes are a class of annelid worms, generally marine. Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. Indeed, polychaetes are sometimes referred to as bristle worms. More than 10,000...

 worms in the suborder Sabellida

Sabellida

Sabellida is a suborder of annelid worms in the class Polychaeta. They are filter feeders with no buccal organ. The prostomium is fused with the peristomium and bears a ring of feathery feeding tentacles...

. The worms live in tubes made of sand and are filter feeder

Filter feeder

Filter feeders are animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feeding are clams, krill, sponges, baleen whales, and many fish and some sharks. Some birds,...

s and detrivores.

Characteristics

Members of this family live in tubes made of sand and shell fragments cemented together and attached to rocks. Some species are colonial and the multitude of their tubes may create hummocks and even reefs. The top of the tube can be closed by an operculum

Operculum (animal)

An operculum is an anatomical feature, a stiff structure resembling a lid or a small door that opens and closes, and thus controls contact between the outside world and an internal part of an animal...

 formed by several rings of bristles on the head of the worm. The head also bears several fine feeding tentacle

Tentacle

A tentacle or bothrium is one of usually two or more elongated flexible organs present in animals, especially invertebrates. The term may also refer to the hairs of the leaves of some insectivorous plants. Usually, tentacles are used for feeding, feeling and grasping. Anatomically, they work like...

s and a pair of small palps. The thoracic section of the body has 3 or 4 segments with paddle-like capillary bristles. The abdominal section has many segments each with hooked bristles on raised lobes. There are a pair of gills on each of the thoracic segments and on the front abdominal segments. The rear of the body is bent forward along a groove in the mid section of the body.

Genera

• Alveolaria
• Bathysabellaria
• Branchio
• Centrocorone
• Cryptopomatus
• Gesaia
• Gunnarea
• Hermella
• Idanthyrsus Kinberg, 1876
• Lygdamis Kinberg, 1867
• Mariansabellaria
• Monorchos
• Neosabellaria Kirtley, 1994
• Paraidanthyrsus
• Phalacrostemma Marenzeller, 1895
• Phragmatopoma Mörch, 1863
• Sabellaria
  Sabellaria
  Sabellaria is a genus of marine polychaete worms in the family Sabellariidae. The type species is Sabellaria alveolata . These worms are sedentary and build tubes in which to live from sand and shell fragments. Some species are called honeycomb worms and when they occur in great numbers they can...
  
  Savigny, 1818
• Tetreres