Checklist of Annelida from the coasts of Turkey

The phylum Annelida is composed of segmented worms and includes 2 classes, namely Polychaeta (marine worms) and Clitellata (oligochaetes and leeches) (WoRMS, 2014). The current estimation of the number of annelida species revealed that 13,721 species are present in the world's oceans The majority of species belong to polychaetes (12,632 species), followed by oligochaetes (910 species) and leeches (179 species). In the Mediterranean Sea, 1181 Annelida species have been reported to date, of which 1122 species belonged to Polychaeta and 44 to Clitellata (Oligochaeta: 35 species; Hirudinea: 9 species) Some Mediterranean countries have prepared a checklist of polychaete species along their coasts; 753 species were reported from the Greek coasts Polychaetes from the Levantine Sea