WoRMS taxon details
Pholoe Johnston, 1839
129439 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:129439)
accepted
Genus
Pholoe inornata Johnston, 1839 (type by monotypy)
- Species Pholoe anoculata Hartman, 1965
- Species Pholoe assimilis Örsted, 1845
- Species Pholoe baltica Örsted, 1843
- Species Pholoe chinensis Wu, Zhao & Ding, 1994
- Species Pholoe courtneyae Blake, 1995
- Species Pholoe fauveli Kirkegaard, 1983
- Species Pholoe glabra Hartman, 1961
- Species Pholoe inornata Johnston, 1839
- Species Pholoe longa (O.F. Müller, 1776)
- Species Pholoe microantennata Padovanni & Amaral, 2013
- Species Pholoe minuta (Fabricius, 1780)
- Species Pholoe minutissima Hartmann-Schröder, 1980
- Species Pholoe pallida Chambers, 1985
- Species Pholoe petersenae Ravara & Cunha, 2016
- Species Pholoe polymorpha (Hartmann-Schröder, 1962)
- Species Pholoe spinosa Hartmann-Schröder, 1991
- Species Pholoe tuamotuensis Hartmann-Schröder, 1992
- Species Pholoe antarctica [check list lapsus] accepted as Neopolynoe antarctica (Kinberg, 1858) (non-existent combination)
- Species Pholoe antipoda Hartman, 1967 accepted as Laubierpholoe antipoda (Hartman, 1967) (superseded original combination)
- Species Pholoe brevicornis Panceri, 1875 accepted as Subadyte pellucida (Ehlers, 1864) (subjective synonym)
- Species Pholoe dorsipapillata Marenzeller, 1893 accepted as Pholoides dorsipapillatus (Marenzeller, 1893) (superseded original combination)
- Species Pholoe eximia Johnston, 1865 accepted as Pholoe minuta (Fabricius, 1780) (subjective synonym)
- Species Pholoe mendeleevi Averincev, 1978 accepted as Pholoides mendeleevi (Averincev, 1978) (superseded original combination)
- Species Pholoe parva Imajima & Hartman, 1964 accepted as Imajimapholoe parva (Imajima & Hartman, 1964) (superseded original combination)
- Species Pholoe swedmarki Laubier, 1975 accepted as Laubierpholoe swedmarki (Laubier, 1975) (superseded original combination)
- Species Pholoe synophthalmica Claparède, 1868 accepted as Pholoe inornata Johnston, 1839 (junior synonym)
- Species Pholoe tecta Stimpson, 1853 accepted as Pholoe minuta tecta (Stimpson, 1853) (superseded original combination)
- Species Pholoe tuberculata Southern, 1914 accepted as Pholoe baltica Örsted, 1843 (probable junior synonym)
marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
recent only
Johnston, George. (1839). Miscellanea Zoologica. VI. The British Aphroditaceæ. <em>Annals of Natural History; or, Magazine of Zoology, Botany, and Geology.</em> 2(12): 424-441, plates XXI-XXIII., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2278050
page(s): 437; note: for Pholoe inornata new species [details]
page(s): 437; note: for Pholoe inornata new species [details]
Note Records giving Aphrodita minuta Fabricius as...
From editor or global species database
Type species Records giving Aphrodita minuta Fabricius as type species (eg Hartman Catalogue p.117) are based on the (incorrect) assumption that Pholoe inornata is a junior synonym of P. minuta (it was referred to P. minuta by Malmgren, 1865). Also, even if a junior synonym, the type species name would still be P. inornata [details]
Etymology Latinised personal name from the Greek. According to Johnston Pholoe was one of the nereid nymphs. Author quote "As Pholoe,...
Taxonomy Worms of the genus Pholoe are common and abundant in marine benthos. In northern Europe, 1 to 3 species may be present in a...
Etymology Latinised personal name from the Greek. According to Johnston Pholoe was one of the nereid nymphs. Author quote "As Pholoe, most that rules the monsters of the main." Drayton, Polyolbion, Song xx. [details]
Taxonomy Worms of the genus Pholoe are common and abundant in marine benthos. In northern Europe, 1 to 3 species may be present in a...
Taxonomy Worms of the genus Pholoe are common and abundant in marine benthos. In northern Europe, 1 to 3 species may be present in a single sample but not recognised as distinct. Four valid species are common in European inshore waters, but inadequate descriptions and species misidentifications have resulted in most of them being misidentified as the western North Atlantic P. minuta, not known to occur in European waters. [details]
Read, G.; Fauchald, K. (Ed.) (2025). World Polychaeta Database. Pholoe Johnston, 1839. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=129439 on 2025-05-21
Date
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Nomenclature
original description
Johnston, George. (1839). Miscellanea Zoologica. VI. The British Aphroditaceæ. <em>Annals of Natural History; or, Magazine of Zoology, Botany, and Geology.</em> 2(12): 424-441, plates XXI-XXIII., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2278050
page(s): 437; note: for Pholoe inornata new species [details]
page(s): 437; note: for Pholoe inornata new species [details]
Identification resource
identification resource
Meißner, Karin; Götting, Miriam; Nygren, Arne. (2020). Do we know who they are? On the identity of Pholoe (Annelida: Sigalionidae: Pholoinae) species from northern Europe. <em>Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.</em> 189, 178–206., available online at https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz120 [details] Available for editors 
[request]
[request]Other
additional source
Fauchald, K. (1977). The polychaete worms, definitions and keys to the orders, families and genera. <em>Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County: Los Angeles, CA (USA), Science Series.</em> 28:1-188., available online at http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/123110.pdf [details]
additional source Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). , available online at http://www.itis.gov [details]
additional source Bellan, G. (2001). Polychaeta, <i>in</i>: Costello, M.J. <i>et al.</i> (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. <em>Collection Patrimoines Naturels.</em> 50: 214-231. (look up in IMIS) [details]
additional source Brunel, P., L. Bosse & G. Lamarche. (1998). Catalogue of the marine invertebrates of the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. <em>Canadian Special Publication of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 126.</em> 405 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details] Available for editors [request]
additional source Day, J. H. (1967). [Errantia] A monograph on the Polychaeta of Southern Africa. Part 1. Errantia. British Museum (Natural History), London. pp. vi, 1–458, xxix., available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/8596 [details]
additional source Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). , available online at http://www.itis.gov [details]
additional source Bellan, G. (2001). Polychaeta, <i>in</i>: Costello, M.J. <i>et al.</i> (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. <em>Collection Patrimoines Naturels.</em> 50: 214-231. (look up in IMIS) [details]
additional source Brunel, P., L. Bosse & G. Lamarche. (1998). Catalogue of the marine invertebrates of the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. <em>Canadian Special Publication of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 126.</em> 405 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details] Available for editors
[request]additional source Day, J. H. (1967). [Errantia] A monograph on the Polychaeta of Southern Africa. Part 1. Errantia. British Museum (Natural History), London. pp. vi, 1–458, xxix., available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/8596 [details]
Present Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
From editor or global species database
Classification Included in the Sigalionidae by Fauchald (1977). Following Petersen (1998) they should be included in a separate family Pholoidae [details]Etymology Latinised personal name from the Greek. According to Johnston Pholoe was one of the nereid nymphs. Author quote "As Pholoe, most that rules the monsters of the main." Drayton, Polyolbion, Song xx. [details]
Taxonomy Worms of the genus Pholoe are common and abundant in marine benthos. In northern Europe, 1 to 3 species may be present in a single sample but not recognised as distinct. Four valid species are common in European inshore waters, but inadequate descriptions and species misidentifications have resulted in most of them being misidentified as the western North Atlantic P. minuta, not known to occur in European waters. [details]
Type species Records giving Aphrodita minuta Fabricius as type species (eg Hartman Catalogue p.117) are based on the (incorrect) assumption that Pholoe inornata is a junior synonym of P. minuta (it was referred to P. minuta by Malmgren, 1865). Also, even if a junior synonym, the type species name would still be P. inornata [details]
Unreviewed
Habitat Known from seamounts and knolls [details]
