Platynereis dumerilii belongs to the Annelids. It was originally placed into the genus Nereis and later reassigned to Platynereis. Platynereis dumerilii lives in coastal marine waters from temperate to tropical zones. It can be found in a wide range from the Azores, the Mediterranean, in the North Sea, the English Channel, and the Atlantic down to the Cape of Good Hope, in the Black Sea, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Japan, the Pacific, and the Kerguelen Islands. Platynereis dumerilii is today an important lab animal, it is considered as a living fossil, and it is used in many phylogenetic studies as a model organism. Platynereis dumerilii reaches an age of 3 to 18 month and males reach a length of 2 to 3 cm, while females reach a length of 3 to 4 cm.