Naididae

Naididae
Naididae
Tubifex tubifex
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Annelida
Class: Clitellata
Subclass: Oligochaeta
Order: Haplotaxida
Family: Naididae
Ehrenberg, 1828
Subfamilies

Limnodriloidinae
Naidinae
Phallodrilinae
Pristininae (disputed)
Rhyacodrilinae
Telmatodrilinae
Tubificinae
Synonyms

Tubificidae Vejdovský, 1876

The Naididae (formerly known as Tubificidae) are a family of clitellate oligochaete worms like the sludge worm, Tubifex tubifex. They are key components of the benthic communities of many freshwater and marine ecosystems.

Analysis of 18S rDNA sequences [1] has revealed that the family may not be monophyletic. However, the worst paraphyly was corrected with uniting the Naidinae with the other families. This necessitated a change of names under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature rules, as Naididae was now the senior synonym of Tubificidae. It was proposed to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to suppress Naididae because the "tubificids" are the more well-known group of the two, but that was rejected.[2]

Naididae is divided into six subfamilies, arranged here in the presumed phylogenetic sequence:

  • Tubificinae, containing (among others) the genus Tubifex
  • Naidinae Ehrenberg, 1828
  • Telmatodrilinae Eisen, 1879
  • Limnodriloidinae Erséus, 1982
  • Phallodrilinae Brinkhurst, 1971
  • Pristininae Lastočkin, 1921, often included in Naidinae
  • Rhyacodrilinae Hrabě, 1963

Footnotes

  1. ^ Enval et al. (2006)
  2. ^ Erséus et al. (2008)

References

  • Erséus, Christer; Wetzel, Mark J. & Gustavsson, Lena (2008): ICZN rules – a farewell to Tubificidae (Annelida, Clitellata). Zootaxa 1744: 66–68. PDF fulltext
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