Spintheridae is a family of marine polychaete worms with a single genus, Spinther, containing these species:
- Spinther alaskensis <small>Hartman, 1948</small>
- Spinther arcticus <small>(M. Sars, 1851)</small> (includes Spinther miniaceus <small>Grube, 1860</small>)
- Spinther australiensis <small>Augener, 1913</small>
- Spinther citrinus <small>(Stimpson, 1854)</small>
- Spinther ericinus <small>Yamamoto & Imajima, 1985</small>
- Spinther hystrix <small>Uschakov, 1950</small>
- Spinther japonicus <small>Imajima and Hartman, 1964</small>
- Spinther oniscoides <small>Johnston, 1845</small>
- Spinther sagamiensis <small>Imajima, 2003</small>
- Spinther usarpia <small>Hartman, 1967</small>
- Spinther vegae <small>Augener, 1928</small> (includes Spinther wireni <small>Hartman, 1948</small>)
The animal lives as a symbiont on sponges.
Johnston's paper does not explain the choice of the name, but ancient Greek ÃÂÃÂùýøîàmeans "spark." In images of the living animal, it appears to be surrounded by a cloud of pinpoints of light.
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