Tables 2, 6
Cistenides Malmgren, 1866: 358.– Hartman, 1941: 328.– Fauchald, 1977: 120.
Diagnosis. Rim of cephalic veil with numerous long cirri. Cephalic veil completely free from operculum, forming dorsal semi-circular lobe covering bases of numerous peristomial palps. Raised opercular margin smooth. Chaetigers 1 to 3 (segments 5 to 7) with notopodia and notochaetae only, chaetigers 4 to 16 biramous with notopodia, neuropodia, notochaetae and neurochaetae, chaetiger 17 with notopodia and notochaetae only (17/13). Notochaetae all smooth capillaries. Neurochaetal uncini with major teeth arranged in one row. Posterior 5 segments fused, forming flattened plate or scaphe, distinctly separated from abdomen.
Type species. Sabella granulata Linnaeus, 1767, designated by Hartman (1959).
Remarks. The genus has not been recorded from Australian waters. The major diagnostic characters of the six species assigned to this genus are given in Table 2. Species have been separated using the following characters: number of cirri on the cephalic veil, and the number and shape of paleae and scaphal hooks. For several species, the characters are described from non-type material as the original species description is poor. The distinguishing generic character is the presence of a single row of teeth on the uncini. Four species previously referred to the genus Cistenides, C. aegyptia Savigny, 1818, C. chilensis Nilsson, 1928, C. gouldii Verrill, 1874 and C. regalis Verrill, 1900, have uncini with two rows of teeth according to the literature and are transferred to the genus Pectinaria. Cistenides hyperborea Malmgren, 1866, is poorly known, and the type description does not indicate the number of rows of teeth present on the uncini, although 1 to 3 rows of teeth have been recorded on other material assigned to this species. Material from the species type locality of Greenland needs to be reexamined to ascertain the generic identity of this species. Holthe (1986) suggests that no type material exists and probably was never designated. All species now recognised as belonging to the genus occur only in the Northern Hemisphere and often in cold water.