Psamathini are a tribe of phyllodocid "bristle worms" (class Polychaeta) in the family Hesionidae. They are (like almost all polychaetes) marine organisms; most are found on the continental shelf, but some have adapted to greater depths down to the abyssal plain.Pleijel et al. (2008)
Their dorsal cirri alternate, and they usually lack facial tubercles. Most have prolonged teeth on the chaetal blades. 5 genera are placed in the Psamathini with certainty, and three further ones are often included here too in recent times, to make this tribe refer to a distinct clade of polychaetes:Pleijel et al. (2008), WoRMS (2008) Bonuania Pillai, 1965 (tentatively placed here) Hesiospina Imajima & Hartman, 1964 Micropodarke Okuda, 1938 (tentatively placed here) Nereimyra Blainville, 1828 (= Halimede Rathke 1843 (non de Haan, : preoccupied), Psammate) Psamathe Johnston, 1840 (= Kefersteinia) Sirsoe Pleijel, 1998 (tentatively placed here) Syllidia Quatrefages, 1866 Vrijenhoekia Pleijel, Rouse, Ruta, Wiklund & Nygren, 2008
Footnotes
References (2008): Vrijenhoekia balaenophila, a new hesionid polychaete from a whale fall off California. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 152(4): 625–634. (HTML abstract) (2008): Psamathini. Version of 2008-MAR-26. Retrieved 2009-FEB-23.