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Poeobius
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Annelida
Clade:	Pleistoannelida
Clade:	Sedentaria
Order:	Terebellida
Family:	Flabelligeridae
Genus:	Poeobius Heath, 1930
Species:	P. meseres
Binomial name
Poeobius meseres Heath, 1930

Poeobius is a genus of marine polychaete worm. It contains the single species Poeobius meseres, or balloon worm. This is a common and abundant resident in the midwater around the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones, especially in Monterey Bay. They can be found at around 300-2,500 m (980-8,200 ft) depth from Japan to Alaska to the Gulf of California, and have also been reported in South America.

Description

The species is a passive detritivore, using a mucus net to capture marine snow as it hangs neutrally-buoyant midwater. The gelatinous body consist of 11 poorly defined segments with no setae or external segmentation. Only two septa remains, which divides the coelomic cavity into an anterior, middle and posterior coelom. There is no serial duplication of the internal organs. They have a maximum size of 36 mm (1.5 in).

References

1. Read, G.; Fauchald, K. (Ed.) (2022). "World Polychaeta Database. Poeobius Heath, 1930". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 14 December 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
2. Burnette, A. B.; Struck, T. H.; Halanych, K. M. (2005). "Holopelagic Poeobius meseres ("Poeobiidae," Annelida) is derived from benthic flabelligerid worms". The Biological Bulletin. 208 (3): 213–220. doi:10.2307/3593153. JSTOR 3593153. PMID 15965126. S2CID 448274.
3. ^ "Balloon Worm". Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. MBARI. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
4. Seid, C. A.; Lindsay, D. J.; Rouse, G. W. (2020). "A new southern record of the holopelagic annelid Poeobius meseres Heath, 1930 (Flabelligeridae)". Biodiversity Data Journal. 8: e58655. doi:10.3897/BDJ.8.e58655. PMC 7723885. PMID 33304120.
5. Struck, T. H. (2006). "Progenetic species in polychaetes (Annelida) and problems assessing their phylogenetic affiliation". Integrative and Comparative Biology. 46 (4): 558–568. doi:10.1093/icb/icj055. PMID 21672766.
6. Beesley, Pamela L.; Glasby, Christopher J.; Ross, Graham J. B.; Australian Biological Resources Study (2000). Polychaetes & Allies: The Southern Synthesis. Csiro Publishing. ISBN 978-0-643-06571-0.

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