Phoronopsis californica
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Phoronopsis californica | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Phoronida |
| Family: | Phoronidae |
| Genus: | Phoronopsis |
| Species: | P. californica |
| Binomial name | |
| Phoronopsis californica Hilton, 1930[1] | |
Phoronopsis californica is a species of marine horseshoe worm in the phylum Phoronida. It was first described as a new species by William Hilton in 1930 when he found it at Balboa Bay in Newport Beach, California.[2]
Phoronopsis californica lives in a stiff tube encrusted with sand and embedded in sandy or muddy sediment. The tube is up to 250 millimetres long, 3 millimetres wide at the open end and twice this diameter in the middle. There is a bulge at the other end, which is sealed. At the collar, just below the lophophore or feeding organ, the worm has the marked involution of the epidermis which distinguishes the genus Phoronopsis.[2] When the worm is extended it can reach 450 millimetres in length with a diameter of up to 5 millimetres. The colour varies but is usually orangish-brown with a red, orange or green lophophore. This organ has about 1,500 tentacles, each some 2.5 millimetres long, arranged in a pair of helicoid whorls with four to seven coils. These project from the seabed and are the only part of the animal normally visible. They can be retracted back into the tube if danger threatens or when the animal is no longer submerged.[3]