Systematics, phylogeny and anatomy of annelids
A phylogenetic analysis of the polychaete family Phyllodocidae has been performed* (D. Eibye-Jacobsen). An investigation of the anatomy of the nervous system in representative members of the Phyllodocidae has been carried out. This led to a reappraisal of relationships within the family, formalized as a new phylogenetic analysis (D. Eibye-Jacobsen, with L. Orrhage, University of Gothenburg).
Studies of the systematic position of a new genus and species of polychaetes from Bermuda led to a phylogenetic analysis of three families. The primary result was that Iphitimidae and Dinophilidae were shown to be invalid at the family level, as they consistitute subclades within Dorvilleidae* (D. Eibye-Jacobsen, R.M. Kristensen).
The ultrastructure of spermatids and spermatozoa in the diurodrilid polychaete Diurodrilis subterraneus was studied and spermatozoan ultrastructure in other so-called archiannelids was briefly reviewed* (R.M. Kristensen, D. Eibye-Jacobsen).
Taxonomic investigations have been carried out on the polychaete families Phyllodocidae, Lacydoniidae, Tomopteridae and Pisionidae collected in the North Atlantic as part of the BIOFAR and BIOICE projects. A large material, collected in the Canadian Arctic 1945-84, has been studied at McGill University, Montréal during 6 separate visits. The object of this project is to provide information needed to produce a monograph on the polychaetes of the Canadian Arctic. A large polychaete material collected around Phuket Island, Thailand, in part deriving from the Thai-Danish BIOSHELF project, and including many new species, has been studied* (D. Eibye-Jacobsen).
An electrophoretic investigation of northern European populations of phyllodocid polychaetes previously identified as Eulalia viridis led to the recognition of two geographically separated species, E. viridis and E. clavigera, which have been redescribed with designation of neotypes* (D. Eibye-Jacobsen, with S. Bonse, H. Schmidt and W. Westheide, University of Osnabrück).
A global revision of the spionid genus Scololepis has been initiated (D. Eibye-Jacobsen). A taxonomic/distributional study of the spionid polychaetes of Madagascar has been initiated (D. Ejbye-Jacobsen, with A. Soares, University of Port Elisabeth, South Africa).
Studies of the deep-sea polychaetes from the "Galathea" expedition have been completed. Of errant forms from depths of 400-6000m, 105 species, including 19 new to science, were found, many of which showed astonishingly wide distributions both horizontally and vertically*. Seven sedentary families comprised 28 species, two of which were new to science*. A study of the biogeography of some abyssal polychaetes has been completed*. Nereidids, glycerids and goniadids collected by the BIOFAR and BIOICE programmes, and glycerids and nereids from St. Helena have been studied. The second volume of a handbook of all Danish polychaetes in the series "Danmarks Fauna" has been published* (J.B. Kirkegaard).
Worldwide taxonomic and systematic revisions of the polychaete families Pholoidae, Cirratulidae and Chaetopteridae have been continued* (M.E. Petersen, in part with colleagues from France, Japan, Russia, Spain, Turkey, UK, and USA). Particularly valuable material of these and other families has been obtained from the BIOFAR and BIOICE and from material obtained in connection with preparation of chapters for books on the British, Mediterranean and Arctic faunas. In the Arctic, claimed low taxonomic diversity is often a matter of misidentification and not the real situation; at least for cirratulids, the diversity is much higher than reported in the literature, with many new taxa yet to be described*. Misunderstood taxa in the Cirratulidae have led to reviews of additional families, e.g. Pseudocirratulidae, Longosomatidae and Fauveliopsidae*. A review and partial revision of (mainly) European reports of the cirratulid genus Dodecaceria revealed a number of biological and taxonomic problems, still under investigation. A manuscript on reproduction in Cirratulidae is in preparation (M.E. Petersen). A study of North Atlantic flabelligerid polychaetes and the phylogeny of the family on a global basis has been completed (cand. scient. project), a study of flabelligerids from the BIOICE project has been continued, and a taxonomic study of flabelligerids from the BIOSHELF project has been initiated (T. Kristensen).
An aberrant nereidid polychaete from Georgia salt marshes has been studied* (E. Rasmussen).
The volume in the series "Danmarks Fauna" on Danish lumbricids has been completed*. A large material of Afrotropical terricolous oligochaetes, comprising specimens belonging to the families Eudrilidae, Ocnerodrilidae, Octhochaetidae, and Almidae, has been studied (M.W. Clausen).