Validity of the species cirratulus norvegicus Southern

Abstract

DURING the course of an investigation into the ecology of the cirratulid worm, Cirriformia tentaculata (Montagu) it was noticed that the young of this animal were remarkably similar to the worms described by Southern1 as being of the species Cirratulus norvegicus. Previous workers have not been eager to accept this species. Fauvel2, for example, regarded the worm as a variety of C. tentaculata. Wilson3, while not denying the existence of a separate species (since Southern reported a mature female), directed attention to the fact that the features used by Southern to distinguish C. norvegicus from C. tentaculata were in general those that might occur in the juveniles of the latter species. © 1963 Nature Publishing Group.