Nemerteans from the Far Eastern Seas of Russia

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the species composition of the phylum Nemertea in the Far Eastern seas of Russia. The list of nemerteans includes at least 200 species from the classes Palaeonemertea, Pilidiophora, and Hoplonemertea. Many of the species proved to be new to science; most of them remain undescribed. Currently, the use of gene markers is often the only approach to discriminating between closely related species and identifying them accurately. The well-studied nemertean fauna of Peter the Great Bay (73 species), Sea of Japan, has become a basis for comprehensive studies of these invertebrates at the Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences.