Type species: Ampharete gracilis Malmgren, 1866
Synonyms: Anobothrella Hartman, 1967: 155 –156, Melythasides Desbruyères, 1978: 232 –235, Sosanides Hartmann-Schröder, 1965: 243 –246.
Diagnosis: (emended) Prostomium trilobed, without glandular ridges. Buccal tentacles smooth or papillated. Chaetae in TS- 2 present or absent. 3–4 pairs of smooth branchiae, anterior 3 pairs arranged in a transverse row without gap. A pair of nephridial papillae present behind innermost branchiae. 14–16 TCs starting from TS- 3 or TS-4, 11– 12 TUs, starting from TS- 6. 4 th, 5 th or 6 th to last notopodia shifted dorsally, connected by a glandular ridge. If dorsal shift of notopodia absent, posterior TUs prolonged. Circular whitish band present in one anterior TS. AUs 1 and 2 with neuropodia similar to thoracic neuropodia. Abdominal rudimentary notopodia absent.
Remarks: The genus Anobothrus is one of the most speciose ampharetid genera world-wide and the most speciose genus reported for the Southern Ocean and Patagonian waters. With addition of the three newly described species herein, there are eight species described for these regions to date. Reuscher et al. (2009) and Jirkov (2009) presented emended diagnoses for the genus in the same year, based either on discovery of new species or on thorough investigation of large collections of formerly described species. Although both emended diagnoses do not contradict each other, they address different characters in some parts, resulting in the need for the combined diagnosis presentedabove.