Two atavistic characters of some Lumbriculidae and their importance for the classification of Oligochaeta

The rudimentary atria, and the posterior sperm funnels and sperm ducts, which occur in some species of the Lumbriculidae, are discussed. It is shown that the posterior location of funnels and sperm ducts is the result of a forward shift of the atria, which refutes Stephenson's supposition that the Lumbriculidae is the most archaic family of the present-day Oligochaeta.