Polydora glycymerica
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| Polydora glycymerica | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Clade: | Pleistoannelida |
| Clade: | Sedentaria |
| Order: | Spionida |
| Family: | Spionidae |
| Genus: | Polydora |
| Species: | P. glycymerica |
| Binomial name | |
| Polydora glycymerica Radashevsky, 1993[1] | |
Polydora glycymerica is a species of annelid worm in the family Spionidae, native to the northwestern Pacific Ocean,[1] where it lives commensally in association with a bivalve mollusc, usually Glycymeris yessoensis but occasionally with another species of clam. The worm intercepts food particles being drawn into the mollusc by its feeding current.
This species was first described in 1993 by the Russian marine biologist Vasily I. Radashevsky, who placed it in the genus Polydora and gave it the specific epithet "glycymerica" because of its commensal relationship with the bivalve Glycymeris yessoensis. The new species resembled Polydora vulgaris, a worm from the South China Sea that is also associated with bivalve molluscs, although in this instance, Pinctada margaritifera and Hyotissa hyotis are the hosts. Researchers used starch gel electrophoresis to compare the number of isozyme loci and the allozymic variation present in both species, and the results suggest that the two are valid, separate species.[2]
Description
This worm grows to a length of about 60 mm (2.4 in) for a 250 segment worm, and is a greenish-brown colour. The prostomium has an incision that is bent down at the front, but no eyes are present in adult worms. The fifth body segment is larger than its neighbours and the seventh has a pair of white, glandular spots ventrally. There are palps on the first eight segments.[3]