Bathyedithia Pettibone, 1976: 53. – Levenstein, 1978: 167. – Uschakov, 1982: 133 (translated version). – Jirkov, 2001: 128.
Type species: Macellicephaloides berkeleyi Levenstein, 1971a.
Diagnosis (emended): Short body, dorsoventrally flattened, up to 26 segments. Frontal filaments absent. Eyes absent. Median and lateral antennae absent. Facial tubercle absent. Large palpophores. Tentacular segment fused with prostomium, tentaculophores without acicula or chaetae. Pharynx with seven to nine pairs of distal papillae; two pairs of jaws with serrated margin. Dorsal tubercles large (Bathyedithia tuberculata) or absent (Bathyedithia berkeleyi and Bathyedithia retierei sp. nov.). Elytrophores prominent, up to ten pairs, on segments 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19. Parapodia subbiramous, notopodia shorter than neuropodia; noto- and neuropodia with elongate acicular lobe; tips of noto- and neuroaciculae not penetrating epidermis. Notochaetae distally with spinous rows; notochaetae more slender than neurochaetae. Neurochaetae numerous, serrated along both margins. From segment 3, ventral cirri inserted medially on neuropodia. Nephridial papillae present (Bathyedithia berkeleyi and Bathyedithia retierei sp. nov.) or absent (Bathyedithia tuberculata). Pygidium small, with dorsal (Bathyedithia tuberculata and Bathyedithia berkeleyi) or terminal anus (Bathyedithia retierei sp. nov.).
Remarks: The diagnosis of genus Bathyedithia is emended to include a character observed in the species described below and the species Bathyedithia tuberculata Levenstein, 1981: ten pairs of elytrophores; as well as with characters observed in the new species: the presence of a terminal anus and the number of pairs of pharyngeal papillae.