Giere, O.; Erséus, C. (1998). A systematic account of the Questidae (Annelida, Polychaeta), with description of new taxa. Zoologica Scripta. 27(4): 345-360.
A systematic account of the Questidae (Annelida, Polychaeta), with description of new taxa
Zoologica Scripta
27(4): 345-360
Publication
Kristian Fauchald's Polychaeta DB
Questidae is a poorly known polychaete family with many unusual characters, particularly with regard to its reproductive organs. Its taxonomic position remains uncertain, which can be partly referred to the limited material described to date. New material, mostly from shallow sublittoral sediments, shows that questids have a circummundane distribution. Questa Hartman, 1966 is revised to include Novaquesta Hobson, 1970 as a junior synonym. Eight species of questids are assigned to Questa, four of them are new to science: Questa bicirrata sp. n., Q. paucibranchiata sp. n., Q. mediterranea sp. n., and Q. riseri sp. n. Character patterns of the questid polychaetes described so far are cladistically analysed. The limitation of informative characters causes ambiguity in the most parsimonious reconstruction of the phylogeny of the family, and therefore, the Questidae is proposed to be classified as comprising only one genus.
