Family SAGITTIDAE Claus & Groben, 1905

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Introduction

Two rows of teeth are present, eyes pigmented (with the exception of Caecosagitta). Two pairs of lateral fins are present (fins may be appressed or joined by tissue); anterior fins lie on the trunk and posterior fins lie partly on the trunk and tail.

The family Sagittidae has been subjected to tremendous revision during the last several decades as a result of the morphological grouping of species within this family. Tokioka (1965) proposed that the genus Sagitta be split into nine smaller genera, his revision was not retained in his later work but was used in a revised form by Bieri (1991). In his review of south Atlantic chaetognaths, Casanova (1999) argued against the use of Tokioko's revision based on what he perceived as a lack of cladistic support for the genera as well as the high degree of morphological variability seen in juveniles. Bieri (1991) and Casanova (1999) give more rigorous reviews of the taxonomy of the family Sagittidae.

General References

Bieri, R. 1991. Systematics of the Chaetognatha. pp. 122-136 in Bone, Q., Kapp, H. & Pierrot-Bults, A.C. (eds). The Biology of Chaetognaths. Oxford : Oxford University Press.

Casanova, J.-P. 1999. Chaetognatha. pp. 1353-1374 in Boltovskoy, D. (ed.). South Atlantic Zooplankton. unknown : Backhuys Publishers.

Tokioka, T. 1965. The taxonomical outline of Chaetognatha. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory 12: 335-357

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