Is Filibranchus , Malm 1874 (Trichobranchidae: Polychaeta) A Natural Taxon?

This paper presents a hypothesis on the phylogenetic relationships among currently known species in the genus Trichobranchus , based on a cladistic analysis of the external morphological characters, and examines the consequences of such an analysis on the validity of Filibranchus . Phylogenetic relationships of the group were studied using parsimony analysis of 14 (absent/present and multistate) coded morphological characters of 12 terminal taxa. Only one clade was identified, grouping Trichobranchus and Filibranchus . Thus, Filibranchus is considered a junior synonym of Trichobranchus and classification modified to reflect the phylogeny.