Page 277 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

SEGMENTED WORMS 275

CLASS POLYCHAETA
WORM REEFS
King Ragworm
Honeycomb worms build their
tubes by gluing together sand
Alitta virens
LENGTH grains stirred up by waves. The
Up to 20 in (50 cm) glue is a mucus secreted by the
DEPTH worm, which uses a lobed lip
Shore and shallows around its mouth to fashion the
HABITAT tube. As new worms settle out
Muddy sand from the plankton to build their
DISTRIBUTION Temperate coastal waters of own tubes, a reef develops and
northeastern and northwestern Atlantic crown of expands sideways and upward,
spines in
three provided there is a good supply
This large worm has strong jaws that concentric of sand. These structures provide
are easily capable of delivering a rings a home to many other species.
painful bite to a human. The jaws are
pushed out on an eversible proboscis LIVE REEF
fingerlike gills on Live reefs will survive for many years provided
and are used for pulling food into its each body
mouth as well as for defending itself. segment new larvae settle and grow to replace
wave-damaged areas and dead worms.
The king ragworm lives in a mucus-
lined burrow in the sand, and waits for
the tide to come in before coming CLASS POLYCHAETA Although honeycomb worms are tiny,
out to feed. It swims well by bending the sand tubes they build may cover
its long body into a series of S-shaped Honeycomb Worm many yards of rock in rounded
curves. Fishermen hummocks up to 20 in (50 cm) thick.
collect it for bait. Sabellaria alveolata The worms build their tubes close
LENGTH Up to 1 / 2 in together, and the tube openings give
1
(4 cm) the colony a honeycomb appearance.
DEPTH Shore and This worm’s head is crowned by
shallows spines and it has numerous feathery
HABITAT Mixed rock and feeding tentacles around the mouth,
sand areas which it uses to trap plankton. The
DISTRIBUTION Intertidal areas of body ends in a thin, tubelike tail
northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean with no appendages.

The only part of this worm that
CLASS POLYCHAETA CLASS POLYCHAETA
is normally visible is a beautiful fan
Magnificent Feather of feathery tentacles. The worm’s Pompeii Worm
Duster segmented body is hidden inside a Alvinella pompejana
soft, flexible tube that it builds tucked
beneath rocks or in a coral crevice or LENGTH Up to 4 in (10 cm)
Sabellastarte magnifica
buried in sand. The tentacles are in DEPTH 6,500–10,000 ft
LENGTH two whorls and are usually banded (2,000–3,000 m)
Up to 6 in (15 cm)
brown and white. They are normally HABITAT Hydrothermal
DEPTH extended into the water to filter out vent chimneys
3–65 ft (1–20 m)
plankton, but at the slightest vibration
HABITAT or disturbance, such as the exhalation DISTRIBUTION Eastern Pacific
Coral reefs
of a scuba diver, the worm instantly
DISTRIBUTION Shallow waters of the western retracts the tentacles down into the This extraordinary worm lives in thin
Atlantic and Caribbean
safety of the tube. tubes massed together on the sides of
chimneys of deep-sea hydrothermal
vents. The tubes are close to the
CLASS POLYCHAETA
chimneys’ openings, where water from
Christmas Tree deep inside Earth pours out at
temperatures of up to 660˚F (350˚C).
Worm The temperature within the worm
tubes reaches 176˚F (80˚C). At its head
end, the Pompeii worm has a group of
Spirobranchus giganteus
LENGTH Up to 1 / 4 in large gills and a mouth surrounded by
1
(3 cm) tentacles. Each of the worm’s body
DEPTH 0–100 ft (0–30 m) segments has appendages on the side
or more called parapodia. The posterior
HABITAT Living coral parapodia have many hairlike
heads outgrowths that carry a mass of
DISTRIBUTION Shallow reef waters throughout chemosynthetic bacteria. The bacteria
the tropics manufacture food that the worm
absorbs, and the worm also eats
Many large coral heads in tropical some of the bacteria.
waters are decorated with Christmas
tree worms, which occur in a huge
variety of colors. The worm lives in
a calcareous tube buried in the coral
and extends neat, twin spirals of
feeding tentacles above the coral
surface. If disturbed, the worm pulls OCEAN LIFE
back into its tube in a fraction of a
second. For added safety, the worm
can also plug its tube with a small
plate called an operculum.