Pilargidae Saint-Joseph, 1899

Ribeiro, Rannyele Passos, Barbosa, Aline Da Cruz, Freitas, Roberta, Zanol, Joana, Glasby, Christopher J. & Ruta, Christine, 2020, Pilargidae (Annelida: Phyllodocida) from coastal and deep waters of the Southwestern Atlantic, with descriptions of two new species, Zootaxa 4878 (1), pp. 56-76 : 58

Family Pilargidae Saint-Joseph, 1899

Type genus. Pilargis Saint-Joseph, 1899

Remarks. Pilargids have a ribbon-shaped or cylindrical body with surface smooth or papillate. The prostomium can bear two or three antennae (rarely absent, e.g. Cabira Webster, 1879 ), and palps can be simple, biarticulated or fused. Eyes are usually absent, but sometimes discrete pigment patches or ‘subdermal eyespots’ are observed (e.g. Hermundura Müller, 1858 and Synelmis Chamberlin, 1919 ) ( Parapar et al. 2004). The proboscis is unarmed although small cuticular denticles have been described for Hermundura ( Glasby & Hocknull 2010) . The peristomium bears 0–2 pairs of tentacular cirri. Notopodia are usually reduced and may lack notochaetae ( Pilargis ) or carry modified notochaetae, e.g. spines ( Glyphohesione , Hermundura , Litocorsa Pearson, 1970 and Synelmis ), or hooks ( Ancistrosyllis , Cabira and Sigambra ), with or without accompanying capillary chaetae. Many pilargids lack specific pigmentation patterns when alive and commonly have a whitish to reddish colouration. Some can exhibit darker spots in the posterior half of the body (e.g. Pilargis ), and others (e.g. Synelmis ) have subdermal pigmented glands along the body ( Glasby & Marks 2013; Pleijel 2001).