Twenty-six abyssal polychaetes are named from the Mozambique basin off southeast Africa. Three species and two genera are new: Progoniada simplex, Berkeleyia profunda, Bruunilla natalensis, and another in Sphaerodoridae to be described elsewhere. A new family Fauveliopsidae is erected, its species previously allied with Flabelligeridae. Three species are known from Indo-Pacific regions: Glycera papillosa, Ammotrypane brevibranchiata, Phalacrostemma elegans. One, Axionice spinifera, is antarctic; another, Scalibregma inflata, is cosmopolitan. Five generic categories are chiefly or wholly abyssal: Ilyphagus, Fauveliopsis, Flabelligella, Monorchos, Potamethus. Nine genera are cosmopolitan: Aphrodita, Euphrosine, Phyllochaetopterus, Chaetozone, Ammotrypane, Nicomache, Myriochele, Serpula. Unidentifiable species are in families Lacydonidae, Onuphidae, and Ampharetidae. A compendium names abyssal species from depths of 2000 m or more; included are nearly 500 species in 240 genera and 51 families.