11. Taxon Group: Polychaeta

This is part of the collection "DToL Taxon-specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Marine Metazoa", lead by the Other Metazoa Working Group. The SOP collection contains guidance on how to process the various marine Metazoa species within the scope of the Darwin Tree of Life project. The guidance specifically refers to the tissue samples needed for DNA barcoding (which takes place at the Natural History Museum (NHM) and at the Marine Biological Association (MBA)) and outlines the dissected tissues required for whole genome sequencing, which takes place at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Every specimen is submitted for DNA barcoding first before potentially being sent to the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

Definition: Polychaetes are a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms. Each body segment has a pair of protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles made of chitin (called chaetae). More than 10,000 species are described in this class.

Including: All species/specimens larger than 5mm.

Excluding: Specimens smaller than 5mm.

See the Guidelines for important details and checklists.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Emma Sherlock and Lenka Nealova at the Natural History Museum for reviewing this SOP.