Taken primarily from Kozloff,
1987, 1996 p. 95 (Copyright 1987, 1996, University of
Washington Press. Used in this web page by permission of University
of Washington Press)
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| Lower taxonomic level | Main Page | Alphabetic Index | Systematic Index | Glossary |
| 1a | Mouth separate from the proboscis pore, and both openings located on the ventral side of the head posterior to the brain; proboscis without stylets (Class Anopla) | 2 |
| 1b | Mouth united with the proboscis pore, the single opening located at the anterior tip of the head (photo); proboscis armed with a stylet (except in the leechlike genus Malacobdella)(Class Enopla) | 23 |
| 2a | Head without cephalic slits (Order Palaeonemertea and one species [Baseodiscus princeps] of the order Heteronemertea) | 3 |
| 2b | Head with cephalic slits (Order Heteronemertea) | 10 |
| 3a | With conspicuous nematocystlike structures in the epidermis; length not exceeding 1 cm; interstitial | Cephalothrix pacifica |
| 3b | Without nematocystlike structures in the epidermis; length usually much greater than 1 cm; not interstitial | 4 |
| 4a | Body either with conspicuous white rings or longitudinal lines, or both | 5 |
| 4b | Body color more or less homogeneous, with neither rings nor longitudinal lines | 7 |
| 5a | General color deep red, interrupted by white rings that are spaced at intervals about equal to the width of the body; without longitudinal lines; anterior margin of head white | Tubulanus albocinctus |
| 5b | General color brownish, interrupted by white rings; with white longitudinal lines; anterior margin of head not white | 6 |
| 6a | General color orange-brown to chocolate; with 5 or 6 longitudinal lines consisting of densely packed white dots (besides a mid-dorsal line, there are 2 lines on both the right and left sides of the body, and sometimes a faint mid-ventral line is present); white rings evenly spaced | Tubulanus sexlineatus |
| 6b | General color dark brown throughout most of the body, although the posterior region is slightly lighter; with 3 white longitudinal lines (a continuous mid-dorsal line and 2 lateral lines that are broken into dashes anteriorly); white rings not evenly spaced (the anteriormost band of white pigment lies just behind the level of the mouth and forms a V on the ventral surface) | Tubulanus capistratus |
| 7a | General color cream, not more than 50 cm | 8 |
| 7b | General color ochre, orange, or reddish; length commonly exceeding 1 m, and sometimes attaining 3 m | 9 |
| 8a | Generally 10-30 cm long and flattened posteriorly; head milky white; intestinal diverticula conspicuous (gravid females pinkish in the intestinal region; males that contain sperm are light orange in this part of the body) | Carinoma mutabilis |
| 8b | Less than 3 cm long and very slender; head not milky white; intestinal diverticula not conspicuous (gravid females may have mid-dorsal and mid-ventral stripes between the cream-colored ovaries that are in the lateral portions of the body) | Tubulanus pellucidus |
| 9a | Head without eyespots and without a pair of anteroventral grooves; color uniformly orange or reddish | Tubulanus polymorphus
Renier, 1804 |
| 9b | Head with numerous eyespots and with a pair of oblique grooves on the anteroventral surface (these grooves are inconspicuous); color deep ochre to brownish | Baseodiscus princeps |
| 10a | Caudal cirrus absent; length of proboscis sheath variable (it may be much shorter than the body or nearly as long as the body) | 14 |
| 10b | Caudal cirrus present (it may be missing, however, if the posterior end has been damaged); proboscis sheath usually as long as the body | 11 |
| 11a | ||
| 11b | ||
| 12a | ||
| 12b | ||
| 13a | ||
| 13b | ||
| 14a | Body relatively soft and slender, not markedly flattened or otherwise adapted for swimming; length usually less than 50 cm | 15 |
| 14b | Body firm and markedly flattened posteriorly, adapted for swimming; length sometimes more than 50 cm | 17 |
| 15a | Body with distinct transverse rings of a contrasting color | 16 |
| 15b | Body color homogeneous (creamy tan to pale salmon) and lacking transverse rings of a contrasting color (tip of head white) | Micrura alaskensis |
| 16a | Dorsal surface mostly dark brown or purple, but with regularly spaced, transverse white lines that divide the dark color into rectangles (ventral surface ivory white); dorsal surface of head with a conspicuous orange triangle. | Micrura verrilli |
| 16b | General color deep chestnut or some shade of brown, interrupted by irregularly spaced white rings; anterior tip and sides of head with a white border (the body fragments readily) | Micrura wilsoni |
| 17a | ||
| 17b | ||
| 18a | ||
| 18b | ||
| 19a | ||
| 19b | ||
| 20a | ||
| 20b | ||
| 21a | ||
| 21b | ||
| 22a | ||
| 22b | ||
| 23a | Body leechlike, with a muscular attachment disk at the posterior end; proboscis without a stylet; commensal in the mantle cavity of bivalve molluscs (Siliqua patula, Macoma nasuta, M. secta, and probably others) | Malacobdella sp |
| 23b | Body not leechlike, and without a muscular attachment disk at the posterior end; proboscis with a stylet; not commensal in the mantle cavity of bivalve molluscs | 24 |
| 24a | Semi-terrestrial, generally found under rocks and driftwood at the edges of bays and saltmarshes, at a level reached only by the highest tides (dorsal surface grayish green or bluish green, with a poorly defined, darker longitudinal stripe; with 4 clusters of eyespots on the head, the anterior clusters with about 40 eyespots each, the posterior clusters with about 20 eyespots; length up to 25 cm) | Pantinonemertes californiensis |
| 24b | Truly marine, not restricted to a level reached only by the highest tides | 25 |
| 25a | Stylet shaft with helical grooves and ridges | 26 |
| 25b | Stylet shaft smooth | 29 |
| 26a | With a conspicuous statocyst dorsal to each half of the brain; length usually less than 5 mm; interstitial | Ototyphlonemertes americana |
| 26b | Statocysts absent; length much greater than 5 mm, not interstitial | 27 |
| 27a | Proboscis sheath less than 1/5 the length of the body; proximal portion of stylet discoidal and inconspicuous; length up to 1 m (fairly stout and conspicuously flattened; color typically tan, with light brown specks, or slightly purplish; dorsal surface darker than the ventral surface) | Emplectonema purpuratum |
| 27b | Proboscis sheath more than 1/5 the length of the body; proximal piece of stylet prominent; length not often more than 30 cm | 28 |
| 28a | Dorsal surface brown to purple-brown, ventral surface creamy yellow; typically with 2 or 3 sacs of reserve stylets (an average of 4 stylets in each sac) | Paranemertes peregrina |
| 28b | Color uniformly flesh to pale orange; typically with 4-6 sacs of reserve stylets (about 6 stylets in each sac) | Paranemertes sanjuanensis |
| 29a | ||
| 29b | ||
| 30a | ||
| 30b | ||
| 31a | ||
| 31b | ||
| 32a | ||
| 32b | ||
| 33a | ||
| 33b | ||
| 34a | ||
| 34b | ||
| 35a | ||
| 35b | ||
Baseodiscus princeps
Micrura verrilli
Paranemertes peregrina
Tubulanus polymorphus