WoRMS name details
Serpula contortuplicata Linnaeus, 1758
338090 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:338090)
uncertain > nomen dubium (indeterminable, but most later usages likely S. vermicularis)
Species
Serpula (Serpula) contortuplicata Linnaeus, 1758 · unaccepted (disused nominal subgenus)
Serpula contorcuplicata [auct. misspelling] · unaccepted (misspelling of 'contortuplicata')
Serpulus contortuplicatus (Linnaeus, 1758) · unaccepted (superseded recombination)
marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
recent only
Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 787 [details] Available for editors
[request]
page(s): 787 [details] Available for editors
[request]
Nomenclature Note that Serpula vermicularis, although junior in publication date to S contortuplicata and other original Serpula names...
Status The name Serpula contortuplicata has been used by various authors for various taxa, mostly for what is now Serpula...
Nomenclature Note that Serpula vermicularis, although junior in publication date to S contortuplicata and other original Serpula names of 1758, is type species of Serpula by ICZN Opinion 767, and might be assumed to outrank all other Serpula names for priority. However, it is noteworthy that Serpula contortuplicata is not directly dealt with in the Opinion. See also the application of Heppell (1963) where the differing early interpretations of Serpula contortuplicata Linnaeus, 1758 are discussed, but no request made to the ICZN as to how to treat it.
Serpula contortuplicata may be best regarded as a nomen oblitum (Art. 23.9), disregarding the minor usages in non taxonomic works for a few years post 1899, notably in the Tafel 96 figure in Haeckel's (1904) "Kunstformen der Natur" [details]
Serpula contortuplicata may be best regarded as a nomen oblitum (Art. 23.9), disregarding the minor usages in non taxonomic works for a few years post 1899, notably in the Tafel 96 figure in Haeckel's (1904) "Kunstformen der Natur" [details]
Status The name Serpula contortuplicata has been used by various authors for various taxa, mostly for what is now Serpula...
Status The name Serpula contortuplicata has been used by various authors for various taxa, mostly for what is now Serpula vermicularis (e.g. by Savigny 1822, fide Fauvel 1927), but also suggested to equate to Hydroides norvegica (see e.g. Malmgren 1867: 228, also Hartman catalogue p.593), or even placed in Vermetidae. However, both Linnaeus (1767) and Lamarck (1818) refer to D'Argenville (1742, 1772) figs B, C, D, E. These, if identifiable at all, probably belong to Serpula vermicularis. [details]
Read, G.; Fauchald, K. (Ed.) (2026). World Polychaeta Database. Serpula contortuplicata Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=338090 on 2026-09-17
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Nomenclature
original description
Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 787 [details] Available for editors [request]
page(s): 787 [details] Available for editors
[request]Taxonomy
source of synonymy
Fauvel, P. (1927). Polychètes sédentaires. Addenda aux errantes, Arachiannélides, Myzostomaires. <em>Faune de France Volume 16. Paul Lechevalier. Paris.</em> 1-494., available online at http://www.faunedefrance.org/bibliotheque/docs/P.FAUVEL(FdeFr16)Polychetes-sendentaires.pdf [details]
Other
additional source
Fabricius, O. (1780). Fauna Groenlandica, systematice sistens animalia groenlandiae occidentalis hactenus indagata, quoad nomen specificium, triviale, vernaculumque, synonyma auctorum plurimum, descriptionem, locum, victum, generationem, mores, usum capturamque singuli, pro ut detegendi occasio fuit, maximaque parte secundum proprias observationes. [Fauna Greenland, systematically presenting the animals of Western Greenland so far investigated, as to the specific name, trivial, vernacular, synonyms of the authors for the most part, description, place, life, generation, manners, use and catch of each one, as there was an opportunity to discover, and for the most part according to personal observations.]. <em>Hafniae [= Copenhagen] & Lipsiae [= Leipzig], Ioannis Gottlob Rothe.</em> xvi + 452 pp., 1 pl., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13442285
page(s): 381 [details]
additional source Grube, A.E. (1840). Actinien, Echinodermen und Würmer des Adriatischen- und Mittelmeers nach eigenen Sammlungen beschrieben. <em>Königsberg: J.H. Bon.</em> 92 pp., 12 figs., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10662919
page(s): 64-65 [details]
additional source Humphreys, Henry Noel. (1857). Ocean gardens : the history of the marine aquarium, and the best methods now adopted for its establishment and preservation. <em>[Book].</em> Sampson Low, London, 12 plates, 112 pp., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/137892
page(s): 87; note: colour plate painting of a group of Serpula contortuplicata [details]
additional source Linnaeus, C. (1767). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Ed. 12. 1., Regnum Animale. 1 & 2. [The system of nature through the three kingdoms of nature: according to classes, orders, genera, species, with characters, differences, synonyms, places. Ed. 12. 1., Animal Kingdom. 1 & 2]. <em>Holmiae [Stockholm], Laurentii Salvii.</em> pp. 1-532 [1766] pp. 533-1327 [1767]., available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/83650#5 [details]
page(s): 381 [details]
additional source Grube, A.E. (1840). Actinien, Echinodermen und Würmer des Adriatischen- und Mittelmeers nach eigenen Sammlungen beschrieben. <em>Königsberg: J.H. Bon.</em> 92 pp., 12 figs., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10662919
page(s): 64-65 [details]
additional source Humphreys, Henry Noel. (1857). Ocean gardens : the history of the marine aquarium, and the best methods now adopted for its establishment and preservation. <em>[Book].</em> Sampson Low, London, 12 plates, 112 pp., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/137892
page(s): 87; note: colour plate painting of a group of Serpula contortuplicata [details]
additional source Linnaeus, C. (1767). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Ed. 12. 1., Regnum Animale. 1 & 2. [The system of nature through the three kingdoms of nature: according to classes, orders, genera, species, with characters, differences, synonyms, places. Ed. 12. 1., Animal Kingdom. 1 & 2]. <em>Holmiae [Stockholm], Laurentii Salvii.</em> pp. 1-532 [1766] pp. 533-1327 [1767]., available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/83650#5 [details]
Present Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
From editor or global species database
Editor's comment Serpula contorta: Gerth (1941: 160) is an error for S. contortuplicata Savigny, and should be referred to S. vermicularis [details]Nomenclature Note that Serpula vermicularis, although junior in publication date to S contortuplicata and other original Serpula names of 1758, is type species of Serpula by ICZN Opinion 767, and might be assumed to outrank all other Serpula names for priority. However, it is noteworthy that Serpula contortuplicata is not directly dealt with in the Opinion. See also the application of Heppell (1963) where the differing early interpretations of Serpula contortuplicata Linnaeus, 1758 are discussed, but no request made to the ICZN as to how to treat it.
Serpula contortuplicata may be best regarded as a nomen oblitum (Art. 23.9), disregarding the minor usages in non taxonomic works for a few years post 1899, notably in the Tafel 96 figure in Haeckel's (1904) "Kunstformen der Natur" [details]
Status The name Serpula contortuplicata has been used by various authors for various taxa, mostly for what is now Serpula vermicularis (e.g. by Savigny 1822, fide Fauvel 1927), but also suggested to equate to Hydroides norvegica (see e.g. Malmgren 1867: 228, also Hartman catalogue p.593), or even placed in Vermetidae. However, both Linnaeus (1767) and Lamarck (1818) refer to D'Argenville (1742, 1772) figs B, C, D, E. These, if identifiable at all, probably belong to Serpula vermicularis. [details]
Unreviewed
Type locality Atlantic Ocean, Europe [details]
From editor or global species database
