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The present paper deals with a collection of Serpulidae from the following places along the west coast of Ceylon : The Pearl Banks in the Gulf of Mannar, Karaitivu in Portugal Bay, Negombo Lagoon, tidal zones of Chilaw and Mount Lavinia, Panadura River estuary, Madu Ganga estuary at Balapitiya and Ratgama Lake at Dodanduwa. Twenty-seven species are described, including two genera, ten species and three varieties which are new to science and three species new to the fauna of Ceylon. This is not surprising as very few accounts deal with the Polychaeta of Ceylon, most of them by foreign biologists who were either temporarily stationed in Ceylon or made brief investigations here during their voyages through the Indian Ocean. Some Serpulidae of Ceylon have been described by Willey (1905), Pixell (1913) and Augener (1926). From the Indian Ocean as a whole, India and the Gulf of Mannar some serpulids have been described by Schmarda (1861), Pixell (1913), Southern (1921) and Fauvel (1928, 1930 and 1932).