Polychaete worms obtained by RRS ‘Discovery’ from 200 to 4850 m north-west of Africa in 1979 contained 24 species of which five: Macellicephala violacea, Bathyeliosona abyssicola, Laetmonice filicornis, Maldanella harai and Potamilla torelli were present in the abyssal zone (>2000 m). Macellicephala violacea is widely distributed in the Arctic and the present record is the southern-most record of this species. Fifteen species were recorded from the bathyal zone, many of which have a wide distribution in the oceans. A Neopolynoe species from the bathyal zone is new to science.