A taxonomic group which includes worms and arrow worms
chiefly marine annelids possessing both sexes and having paired appendages (parapodia) bearing bristles
bristle worm, a class of mainly marine annelid worms, characterized by possession of parapodia bearing numerous chaetae
Belonging to the phylum Annelida which incorporates all the segmented worms. Polychaetes are the marine equivalent of land-based worms.
(pol- i - kee)t A type of marine worm and a food source for the larval stage of horseshoe crabs.
("with much hair") Any of a class of primarily marine, annelid worms that have a pair of fleshy, leg-like appendages covered with bristles on most segments.
The Polychaeta or polychaetes are a class of annelid worms, generally marine. Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. Polychaeta means "many-bristled" (as opposed to the Oligochaeta which are "few-bristled"), and indeed the polychaetes are sometimes referred to as bristle worms.