Deep-Sea taxon details
Ampharete Malmgren, 1866
129155 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:129155)
accepted
Genus
Ampharete grubei Malmgren, 1865 (type by subsequent designation)
Asabellides Annenkova, 1929 · unaccepted (subjective synonym)
Pseudosabellides Berkeley & Berkeley, 1943 · unaccepted (subjective synonym)
Sabellides Milne Edwards in Lamarck, 1838 · unaccepted (subjective synonym)
- Species Ampharete acutifrons (Grube, 1860)
- Species Ampharete cirrata Webster & Benedict, 1887
- Species Ampharete cornuta (Hilbig, 2000)
- Species Ampharete falcata Eliason, 1955
- Species Ampharete finmarchica (M. Sars, 1865)
- Species Ampharete grubei Malmgren, 1865
- Species Ampharete kerguelensis McIntosh, 1885
- Species Ampharete lindstroemi Hessle, 1917
- Species Ampharete lineata (Berkeley & Berkeley, 1943)
- Species Ampharete manriquei (Salazar-Vallejo, 1996)
- Species Ampharete octocirrata (Sars, 1835)
- Species Ampharete undecima Alvestad, Kongsrud & Kongshavn, 2014
- Species Ampharete villenai Parapar, Helgason, Jirkov & Moreira, 2012
- Species Ampharete arctica Malmgren, 1866 accepted as Ampharete finmarchica (M. Sars, 1865) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
- Species Ampharete elongata (Ehlers, 1913) accepted as Neosabellides elongatus (Ehlers, 1913) (superseded subsequent combination)
- Species Ampharete gagarae Uschakov, 1950 accepted as Anobothrus gracilis (Malmgren, 1866) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
- Species Ampharete homa Chamberlin, 1919 accepted as Anobothrus homus (Chamberlin, 1919) (unaccepted > superseded combination, superseded original combination)
- Species Ampharete sombreriana McIntosh, 1885 accepted as Anobothrus sombrerianus (McIntosh, 1885) (unaccepted > superseded combination, superseded original combination)
marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
recent only
feminine
Malmgren, Anders Johan. (1866? vol for 1865). Nordiska Hafs-Annulater. [part three of three]. <em>Öfversigt af Königlich Vetenskapsakademiens förhandlingar, Stockholm.</em> 22(5): 355-410, plates XVIII-XXIX., available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32339631
page(s): 362-363; note: created for four new species (in order of presentation): Ampharete grubei, A. goesi, A. arctica, A gracilis [details]
page(s): 362-363; note: created for four new species (in order of presentation): Ampharete grubei, A. goesi, A. arctica, A gracilis [details]
Note The type species of Ampharete is Ampharete...
For genus Ampharete Article 69.2.2 decides which of the originally included species is the type species. This article sets the type species to be the originally included species name that is the (junior) synonym of the species name subsequently designated as type, if this originally included species had been at the same time the only species name so synonymized out of the original names included in the genus. Hartman's (1959) checklist makes A. acutifrons senior to three names, but of these only Ampharete grubei was a name originally included by Malmgren. Thus, assuming a prior type designation other than the non-eligible Amphicteis acutifrons does not exist, Ampharete grubei is the type species of Ampharete. It is one of the originally included names, is an available name, and is a valid species, no longer (status fide Krüger et al. 2022) merely a junior synonym name of Ampharete acutifrons. Krüger et al. (2022) (as Ampharete acutifrons) and Chávez-López (2025) retained Amphicteis acutifrons as type species of Ampharete, but this cannot be correct, as explained above. Jirkov (2023) uses Ampharete grubei as type species of Ampharete. Chávez-López state the type-species issue should be resolved by consideration by the ICZN but does not explain why. Correct application of the current Code is sufficient to determine the Ampharete type species [G. Read, August, 2022, modified December 2025 to include usage and statements by Jirkov (2023) & Chávez-López (2025)] [details]
From editor or global species database
Type species The type species of Ampharete is Ampharete grubei Malmgren (via Code Article 69.2.2), and Ampharete acutifrons (Grube) is NOT the type species, contrary to the listing in the Hartman (1959) catalogue. The choice of type species is not clear cut, as it must be determined by subsequent designation from those nominal species first included by Malmgren. In 1865 (possibly published 1866) Malmgren included four new species (in order of presentation: Ampharete grubei, A. goesi, A. arctica, A gracilis) in the new genus Ampharete, but the first listed is Ampharete grubei, which he considered as similar to, but distinct from Amphicteis acutifrons Grube 1860, a species which Malmgren did not include recombined as one of the other Ampharete species (although he should have, given his almost synonymy of his new species A. grubei, to A. acutifrons). After some decades Hessle (1917) placed Ampharete grubei as a synonym of Ampharete acutifrons (original combination Amphicteis acutifrons), but he does not indicate a type species for Ampharete. Hartman (1959: 482), in what has been treated as the valid subsequent designation, lists the type of Ampharete as Ampharete acutifrons (Grube, 1860) (possibly Hartman was copying a previous designation - according to Chávez-López (2025: 6 of 35) this subsequent designation was earlier in Uschakov (1955). However, this designation is not possible as only an originally included name can be a type species of a genus (current Code Article 69.1 and earlier Codes dating back to 1905)). This is fundamental. For genus Ampharete Article 69.2.2 decides which of the originally included species is the type species. This article sets the type species to be the originally included species name that is the (junior) synonym of the species name subsequently designated as type, if this originally included species had been at the same time the only species name so synonymized out of the original names included in the genus. Hartman's (1959) checklist makes A. acutifrons senior to three names, but of these only Ampharete grubei was a name originally included by Malmgren. Thus, assuming a prior type designation other than the non-eligible Amphicteis acutifrons does not exist, Ampharete grubei is the type species of Ampharete. It is one of the originally included names, is an available name, and is a valid species, no longer (status fide Krüger et al. 2022) merely a junior synonym name of Ampharete acutifrons. Krüger et al. (2022) (as Ampharete acutifrons) and Chávez-López (2025) retained Amphicteis acutifrons as type species of Ampharete, but this cannot be correct, as explained above. Jirkov (2023) uses Ampharete grubei as type species of Ampharete. Chávez-López state the type-species issue should be resolved by consideration by the ICZN but does not explain why. Correct application of the current Code is sufficient to determine the Ampharete type species [G. Read, August, 2022, modified December 2025 to include usage and statements by Jirkov (2023) & Chávez-López (2025)] [details]
Etymology unstated by Malmgren, but it seems at the time he was using ancient Greek names of women for genera. Ampharete, Samytha,...
Etymology unstated by Malmgren, but it seems at the time he was using ancient Greek names of women for genera. Ampharete, Samytha, and Melinna are Greek female names. [details]
Read, G.; Fauchald, K. (Ed.) (2025). World Polychaeta Database. Ampharete Malmgren, 1866. Accessed through: Glover, A.G.; Higgs, N.; Horton, T. (2025) World Register of Deep-Sea species (WoRDSS) at: https://www.marinespecies.org/deepsea/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=129155 on 2026-03-22
Glover, A.G.; Higgs, N.; Horton, T. (2026). World Register of Deep-Sea species (WoRDSS). Ampharete Malmgren, 1866. Accessed at: https://marinespecies.org/DeepSea/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=129155 on 2026-03-22
Date
action
by
original description
Malmgren, Anders Johan. (1866? vol for 1865). Nordiska Hafs-Annulater. [part three of three]. <em>Öfversigt af Königlich Vetenskapsakademiens förhandlingar, Stockholm.</em> 22(5): 355-410, plates XVIII-XXIX., available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32339631
page(s): 362-363; note: created for four new species (in order of presentation): Ampharete grubei, A. goesi, A. arctica, A gracilis [details]
original description (of Sabellides Milne Edwards in Lamarck, 1838) Lamarck, J.-B. de. (1838). Histoire naturelle des Animaux sans vertèbres. 2nd Edition. Volume 5. 1-699 [Annelids & Polychaeta occupies p499 to 639]. J.B. Baillière Librarie. Paris. , available online at http://www.archive.org/details/histoirenaturell051838lama
page(s): 608 [details]
original description (of Asabellides Annenkova, 1929) Annenkova, N. (1929). Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Polychaeten-Fauna der USSR. I. Fam. Pectinariidae Quatrefages (Amphictenidae Malmgren) und Ampharetidae Malmgren. <em>Annuaire du Musee Zoologique de l'Académie des Sciences de l'URSS.</em> 30(3): 477-502 + plates XXXVII-XXXIX.
page(s): 494 [details] Available for editors
original description (of Pseudosabellides Berkeley & Berkeley, 1943) Berkeley, Edith; Berkeley, Cyril. (1943). Biological and Ocenographical conditions in Hudson Bay. 11. Polychaeta from Hudson Bay. <em>Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada.</em> 6(2): 129-132., available online at https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/f42-016
page(s): 130-131 [details] Available for editors
taxonomy source Hessle, Christian. (1917). Zur Kenntnis der terebellomorphen Polychaeten. <em>Zoologiska bidrag från Uppsala.</em> 5: 39-258, plates I-V., available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/38891407
page(s): 95; note: Ampharete genus diagnosis. Ampharete grubei included as a synonym of A. acutifrons (Grube) [details]
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 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]
identification resource Krüger, Lotte; Dietrich, Anna; Bastrop, Ralf; Bick, Andreas. (2022). From synonym to valid species: Redescriptions of Ampharete acutifrons (Grube, 1860) and A. cirrata Webster & Benedict, 1887, and brief descriptions of A. baltica Eliason, 1955 and A. grubei Malmgren, 1865 (Annelida: Terebellida: Ampharetidae). <em>Zootaxa.</em> 5174(4): 357–380., available online at https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5174.4.3
note: key to all species of Ampharete from the North Atlantic [details] Available for editors
subsequent type designation Jirkov, Igor A. (2023). Revision of Ampharete (superspecies finmarchica) (Annelida: Ampharetidae). <em>Invertebrate Zoology.</em> 20(1): 1-26., available online at https://kmkjournals.com/journals/Inv_Zool/IZ_Index_Volumes/IZ_20/IZ_20_1_001_026
page(s): 3 of 26; note: Ampharete grubei is stated to be the type species of Ampharete [details] Available for editors
subsequent type designation Hartman, Olga. (1959). Catalogue of the Polychaetous Annelids of the World. Parts 1 and 2. <em>Allan Hancock Foundation Occasional Paper.</em> 23: 1-628.
page(s): 482; note: Hartman's checklist has Ampharete acutifrons (Grube, 1860) as type species of Ampharete, and this assignment has subsequently repeatedly been cited as the first subsequent designation. However, this ...
[details] Available for editors
subsequent type designation Uschakov, P.V. (1955). Mnogoshchetinkovye chervi dal'nevostochnykh morei SSSR. [The Polychaeta from the Far-Eastern Seas of the USSR]. <em>Akademiya Nauk Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Republik.</em> 56: 1-445.
page(s): 366; note: Ampharete acutifrons (Grube, 1860) as type of Ampharete, with A. grubei Malmgren treated as its synonym.However, this is not possible as Amphicteis acutifrons (later in Ampharete) was not originally r...
[details]
page(s): 362-363; note: created for four new species (in order of presentation): Ampharete grubei, A. goesi, A. arctica, A gracilis [details]
original description (of Sabellides Milne Edwards in Lamarck, 1838) Lamarck, J.-B. de. (1838). Histoire naturelle des Animaux sans vertèbres. 2nd Edition. Volume 5. 1-699 [Annelids & Polychaeta occupies p499 to 639]. J.B. Baillière Librarie. Paris. , available online at http://www.archive.org/details/histoirenaturell051838lama
page(s): 608 [details]
original description (of Asabellides Annenkova, 1929) Annenkova, N. (1929). Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Polychaeten-Fauna der USSR. I. Fam. Pectinariidae Quatrefages (Amphictenidae Malmgren) und Ampharetidae Malmgren. <em>Annuaire du Musee Zoologique de l'Académie des Sciences de l'URSS.</em> 30(3): 477-502 + plates XXXVII-XXXIX.
page(s): 494 [details] Available for editors
original description (of Pseudosabellides Berkeley & Berkeley, 1943) Berkeley, Edith; Berkeley, Cyril. (1943). Biological and Ocenographical conditions in Hudson Bay. 11. Polychaeta from Hudson Bay. <em>Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada.</em> 6(2): 129-132., available online at https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/f42-016
page(s): 130-131 [details] Available for editors
taxonomy source Hessle, Christian. (1917). Zur Kenntnis der terebellomorphen Polychaeten. <em>Zoologiska bidrag från Uppsala.</em> 5: 39-258, plates I-V., available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/38891407
page(s): 95; note: Ampharete genus diagnosis. Ampharete grubei included as a synonym of A. acutifrons (Grube) [details]
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 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]
identification resource Krüger, Lotte; Dietrich, Anna; Bastrop, Ralf; Bick, Andreas. (2022). From synonym to valid species: Redescriptions of Ampharete acutifrons (Grube, 1860) and A. cirrata Webster & Benedict, 1887, and brief descriptions of A. baltica Eliason, 1955 and A. grubei Malmgren, 1865 (Annelida: Terebellida: Ampharetidae). <em>Zootaxa.</em> 5174(4): 357–380., available online at https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5174.4.3
note: key to all species of Ampharete from the North Atlantic [details] Available for editors
subsequent type designation Jirkov, Igor A. (2023). Revision of Ampharete (superspecies finmarchica) (Annelida: Ampharetidae). <em>Invertebrate Zoology.</em> 20(1): 1-26., available online at https://kmkjournals.com/journals/Inv_Zool/IZ_Index_Volumes/IZ_20/IZ_20_1_001_026
page(s): 3 of 26; note: Ampharete grubei is stated to be the type species of Ampharete [details] Available for editors
subsequent type designation Hartman, Olga. (1959). Catalogue of the Polychaetous Annelids of the World. Parts 1 and 2. <em>Allan Hancock Foundation Occasional Paper.</em> 23: 1-628.
page(s): 482; note: Hartman's checklist has Ampharete acutifrons (Grube, 1860) as type species of Ampharete, and this assignment has subsequently repeatedly been cited as the first subsequent designation. However, this ...
Hartman's checklist has Ampharete acutifrons (Grube, 1860) as type species of Ampharete, and this assignment has subsequently repeatedly been cited as the first subsequent designation. However, this name is not a candidate for type species as Amphicteis acutifrons was not originally recorded by Malmgren when he created Ampharete.
subsequent type designation Uschakov, P.V. (1955). Mnogoshchetinkovye chervi dal'nevostochnykh morei SSSR. [The Polychaeta from the Far-Eastern Seas of the USSR]. <em>Akademiya Nauk Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Republik.</em> 56: 1-445.
page(s): 366; note: Ampharete acutifrons (Grube, 1860) as type of Ampharete, with A. grubei Malmgren treated as its synonym.However, this is not possible as Amphicteis acutifrons (later in Ampharete) was not originally r...
Ampharete acutifrons (Grube, 1860) as type of Ampharete, with A. grubei Malmgren treated as its synonym.However, this is not possible as Amphicteis acutifrons (later in Ampharete) was not originally recorded by Malmgren when he created Ampharete.
Present Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
From editor or global species database
Editor's comment The adoption by some of Amphicteis acutifrons as type species of Ampharete (it cannot be the type species - see the explanation under the type species note) may be a result of a number of authors (subsequent to Malmgren's (1866) naming of Ampharete) treating Ampharete grubei as a junior synonym of Ampharete acutifrons (was Amphicteis). Notably Uschakov 1955 and Hartman, 1959 state that Ampharete acutifrons is the type species of Ampharete. This presentation of a senior synonym as type species when in fact the junior synonym is the actual direct type species candidate (included in the genus when the genus was named) is a common treatment in Hartman's catalogue. It's not Code compliant as a species name not included in a new genus cannot be the type of that genus, but is the way Hartman could present a single name as type species, rather than complicating the presentation by stating one name was the type species but was now a synonym of another name. In fact it always must be the junior name which is the type species in these cases. The fact that it is discovered to be a junior synonym is irrelevant. Its status as a type species is unchanged. [details]Etymology unstated by Malmgren, but it seems at the time he was using ancient Greek names of women for genera. Ampharete, Samytha, and Melinna are Greek female names. [details]
Grammatical gender Feminine, as Ampharete is a Greek female name, and all adjectival names created have been feminine. [details]
Type species The type species of Ampharete is Ampharete grubei Malmgren (via Code Article 69.2.2), and Ampharete acutifrons (Grube) is NOT the type species, contrary to the listing in the Hartman (1959) catalogue. The choice of type species is not clear cut, as it must be determined by subsequent designation from those nominal species first included by Malmgren. In 1865 (possibly published 1866) Malmgren included four new species (in order of presentation: Ampharete grubei, A. goesi, A. arctica, A gracilis) in the new genus Ampharete, but the first listed is Ampharete grubei, which he considered as similar to, but distinct from Amphicteis acutifrons Grube 1860, a species which Malmgren did not include recombined as one of the other Ampharete species (although he should have, given his almost synonymy of his new species A. grubei, to A. acutifrons). After some decades Hessle (1917) placed Ampharete grubei as a synonym of Ampharete acutifrons (original combination Amphicteis acutifrons), but he does not indicate a type species for Ampharete. Hartman (1959: 482), in what has been treated as the valid subsequent designation, lists the type of Ampharete as Ampharete acutifrons (Grube, 1860) (possibly Hartman was copying a previous designation - according to Chávez-López (2025: 6 of 35) this subsequent designation was earlier in Uschakov (1955). However, this designation is not possible as only an originally included name can be a type species of a genus (current Code Article 69.1 and earlier Codes dating back to 1905)). This is fundamental.
For genus Ampharete Article 69.2.2 decides which of the originally included species is the type species. This article sets the type species to be the originally included species name that is the (junior) synonym of the species name subsequently designated as type, if this originally included species had been at the same time the only species name so synonymized out of the original names included in the genus. Hartman's (1959) checklist makes A. acutifrons senior to three names, but of these only Ampharete grubei was a name originally included by Malmgren. Thus, assuming a prior type designation other than the non-eligible Amphicteis acutifrons does not exist, Ampharete grubei is the type species of Ampharete. It is one of the originally included names, is an available name, and is a valid species, no longer (status fide Krüger et al. 2022) merely a junior synonym name of Ampharete acutifrons. Krüger et al. (2022) (as Ampharete acutifrons) and Chávez-López (2025) retained Amphicteis acutifrons as type species of Ampharete, but this cannot be correct, as explained above. Jirkov (2023) uses Ampharete grubei as type species of Ampharete. Chávez-López state the type-species issue should be resolved by consideration by the ICZN but does not explain why. Correct application of the current Code is sufficient to determine the Ampharete type species [G. Read, August, 2022, modified December 2025 to include usage and statements by Jirkov (2023) & Chávez-López (2025)] [details]
To European Nucleotide Archive, ENA (Ampharete)
To European Nucleotide Archive, ENA (Asabellides) (from synonym Asabellides Annenkova, 1929)
To European Nucleotide Archive, ENA (Sabellides) (from synonym Sabellides Milne Edwards in Lamarck, 1838)
To Genbank
To Genbank (from synonym Sabellides Milne Edwards in Lamarck, 1838)
To Genbank (from synonym Asabellides Annenkova, 1929)
To Macrozoobenthos communities of Svalbard
To The Arctic Traits Database (19 traits)
To The Arctic Traits Database (4 traits) (from synonym Sabellides Milne Edwards in Lamarck, 1838)
To ITIS
To European Nucleotide Archive, ENA (Asabellides) (from synonym Asabellides Annenkova, 1929)
To European Nucleotide Archive, ENA (Sabellides) (from synonym Sabellides Milne Edwards in Lamarck, 1838)
To Genbank
To Genbank (from synonym Sabellides Milne Edwards in Lamarck, 1838)
To Genbank (from synonym Asabellides Annenkova, 1929)
To Macrozoobenthos communities of Svalbard
To The Arctic Traits Database (19 traits)
To The Arctic Traits Database (4 traits) (from synonym Sabellides Milne Edwards in Lamarck, 1838)
To ITIS
Unreviewed
