Serpula columbiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Serpula columbiana | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Clade: | Pleistoannelida |
| Clade: | Sedentaria |
| Order: | Sabellida |
| Family: | Serpulidae |
| Genus: | Serpula |
| Species: | S. columbiana |
| Binomial name | |
| Serpula columbiana Johnson, 1901[1] | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Serpula columbiana, variously called the calcareous tubeworm, plume worm, fan worm, limy tube worm and red tube worm,[2] is a species of segmented marine polychaete worm in the family Serpulidae. It is a cosmopolitan species that is found in most seas in the Northern Hemisphere including the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.
This worm lives in an irregularly coiled, smooth, calcareous tube that it secretes and which is attached to the substrate along most of its length. The opening of the tube is protected by a funnel-shaped operculum which has about 160 tiny creases along its rim. Inside the tube, the worm is yellowish and up to 8 cm (3 in) long. It has about forty radioles (featherlike structures forming a crown) which can be extended through the open end of the tube. The operculum is usually red and the radioles are red, pink or orange and usually banded with white. The radioles are attached to the peristomium, which bears a pair of eyes, and the worm has seven thoracic segments and up to 190 abdominal segments.[2]