The Polychaet fauna of the Antarctic and Sub-antarctic regions is perhaps as well known as that of any other region, with the exception, it may be, of that of the North Sea and Mediterranean, which has been studied intensively by numerous zoologists for nearly a century.

In defining the extent of the Antarctic region I follow Ehlers, who includes not only the shores of the land-mass, but those islands which lie to the south of the outermost limit of the drifting sea-ice; thus the islands of South Georgia and Bouvet are included, while the Falkland, Crozet and Kerguelen Islands belong to the Sub-antarctic region.

The various expeditions to these high southern latitudes have brought back a considerable number of worms, many of which, indeed the majority, are confined to these two regions.