A new genus and species of questid polychaetes has been collected from communities associated with
Cymodocea nodosa seagrass beds in the Canary Islands by means of core sampling. Additional material was also collected from sandy patches in shallow water from the Selvagens Islands.
Periquesta canariensis, a new genus and species, is distinct from all other known questids due to its smooth capillary chaetae and the presence of bidentate crotchets only in the neuropodia. The phylogenetic relationships within the Questidae species, cladistically treated from the analyses of morphological characters, supported the monophyly of the family. On the other hand, the genus
Questa Hartman, 1966, which has eight previously known questid species, is maintained as a coherent taxon.
