#serpulid worm

[t00thpasteface]

a new sound, a really different sound, a sound that's made by worms

[dougdimmadodo]

Caribbean Christmas Tree Worm (Spirobranchus giganteus)

Family: Serpulid Worm Family (Serpulidae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Unassessed

Found attached to coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea and Indo-Pacific Ocean regions, the Caribbean Christmas Tree Worm lives in a hard, rocky tube (made up of calcium carbonate particles that it has cemented together using an extremely thick mucus that it secretes from its body), with only a pair of colourful, frilly structures lined with small feeding tentacles that protrude from its head being exposed, resembling a tiny pair of colourful Christmas trees. These frilled structures are primarily used for feeding (with the tentacles that line them capturing plankton and tiny pieces of detritus from the water and passing them down to the worm’s mouth near the opening of the tube), but also allow the worm to breathe (with gasses being exchanged between the water surrounding them and the blood within them across their thin outer surface) and can function similarly to rudimentary eyes, with light-sensitive spots on their tentacles (as well as a second set of eye-like structures just above the mouth) detecting potential predators as they come near the worm. At the first sign of a predator the worm quickly pulls its feeding structures back into its tube and blocks the tube’s opening with the only other exposed part of its body, a spiny lid-like structure called an operculum, which is sufficient to keep out almost all threats and means that this species faces little predation despite being only around 3.8cm (1.5 inches) in length. Caribbean Christmas Tree Worms may live for over 30 years, and will live their entire adult lives without ever leaving their tube - they reproduce by releasing gametes into the water through the opening of their tube, and once these gametes fuse they rapidly develop into larval worms which will live as free-swimming plankton for 9-12 days before burrowing into a coral reef and beginning to construct a tube of their own. The feeding structures of different individuals of this species can vary dramatically in their colouration (with pink-on-white, white-on-blue, black-on-yellow, pure yellow and pure orange all being common), and on reefs where multiple worms have settled in close proximity to one another the multi-coloured “forests” that their feeding structures create can be quite beautiful.

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Animal Advent Calendar - Merry Christmas!

Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/49517-Spirobranchus-giganteus

More information on this species, and a look at what its body looks like inside the tube: https://www.howitworksdaily.com/meet-the-christmas-tree-worm/

[littlequeen7]

1. My feather collection (bones, tiny pinecone and butterfly not included). All found on hikes, I don't know what all of them are from but I know there is wild turkey, crow or raven, some type of bluebird, and some type of Nightjar.

2. My bug collection. All found already dead (I would never kill something just to add it to my collection, that's why I could never be an entomologist, even though they are my special interest). Different types of bees or beeflies, a Bold Jumping Spider, a dragonfly, a couple of moths and a June Bug. Also the butterfly from above, and some other butterfly wings and a small wasp nest that aren't pictured.

3. Perhaps the coolest thing I have ever found on a hike, ever. I just found this the other day while I was hiking in the rain. It is the foot/paw of some type of mole! Completely intact, connected to the wrist in one piece. There were no other bones near it, just this lone foot next to the trail under some bushes.

4. This piece of agate and obsidian that I found in the same spot in a creek in the Central Washington mountains. I saw something shiny, reached into the creek blindly, and pulled out these beauties.

5. This tiny piece of wood with a little surprised face that I found on the beach in Western Washington. Looks like those little guys from Studio Ghibli.

6. This elk jawbone that I found near the Elk Feeding Station near Naches, Washington. Bonus: a tiny little mouse (?) jawbone I found at Snow Mountain Ranch near Yakima, Washington.

7. The calcium tube of a Serpulid Tube worm (thanks iNaturalist) that I found on the beach in Skagit County, Washington.

8. My ecosphere that I have had since 2020. It is made out of a glass peanut butter jar, and sealed inside was some substrate, plants and water I took from a pond in Yakima, Washington. Four years later, it is still home to generations of daphnia, little guys that swim around and eat the algae that grows inside.

9. This cool piece of dried cactus (I think) that my stepmom found somewhere in Central Washington. Bonus: curly stick!

[ushdubsar]

That's a different species! The one in the screenshot (Stylobates aenus) apparently DOES build almost an entire shell by itself.

The paper here: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/5094255.pdf notes:

"(2) the coiled shell, called by Carlgren (I928a, 1928b) a carcinoecium, is almost entirely produced by the actinian."

"Four of 21 Stylobates aeneus shells from Hawaii that we dissected had remains of calcareous material in the apical region: two of these were gastropods, and two were portions of serpulid worm tubes. In all cases, the carcinoecium is of typical trochoid shape."

The serpulid worm tubes point suggests that these critters build snail-shaped shells from any damn starting material, and they probably only use starting material at all so they can pick objects exclusively inhabited by hermit crabs (I can't find any mention at a quick scan of them living without a crab buddy).

Still in awe that more than zero people in the world believe corals are just inanimate mineral formations, or that sea anemones are plants, or that sea urchins are just stationary objects, or that so many people didn’t know that every single seashell in the world comes from the death of its original owner and isn’t “molted” or “shed” from live snails. People deserve to know marine invertebrates as well as they do so many other animals :(

[montereybayaquarium]

Worms are beautiful! Yeah, we said it... OK, maybe not all worms—but the banded appendages and trumpet tentacle of fanworms play up the profound pretty of these painted petites. Photo by local biologist Kate Vylet

[marineexplorer]

Marine Worms #marineexplorer by John Turnbull Via Flickr: CW fr TL Serpulid worm, southern fanworm, purple sausage worm, Christmas tree worm, Galeolaria tubeworms and Phoronid horseshoe worm

[rosybetta]

Hi I'm back in the eleventh hour to drop more cool worms!!

Dorvilleids, the cutie patooties of the marine annelid world! Look at those little eyes! The bunny ears!

Some miscellaneous beautiful worms - a Nereid, possibly another Nereid(?), and an Amphinomid (fireworm)!

Cnidaria fans will say "But annelids can't build reefs! Checkmate, worm lovers" and to that I say - BEHOLD!

The HONEYCOMB WORM! (As the name implies, don't google close-ups of this reef if you have trypophobia) These reefs can actually be intertidal, unlike coral reefs! This means they can support a whole different diversity of life!

These are one of the most prolific reef-building polychaetes, but they're not the only ones!

MASSIVE colonies of Serpulid worms make up these unearthly reefs in Antarctica!

And they've been around for a while...

On the left are fragments of ancient reefs built by Cirratulid worms in the Miocene era - as far back as 23 million years ago! And on the right is a huge fossilized reef built by chemosynthetic Serpulid worms off of the California coast over 20 thousand years ago! As long as there have ever been coral reefs, there have also been the worm reefs <3

As a bonus, here's some insight into some of my personal PhD research with marine annelid worms!

Part of my research involves these "ant farms" (pictured above), which I layer with UV-reactive "luminophore" mud particles to track the movement of worms within the mud. We record the worms' activities and take daily measurements of how the luminophores are moved as they burrow. A lot of the wiggliness you see in the glowing layers here is due to just one tiny worm! How cool is that?

These guys are major players in mixing the seafloor sediment, which stimulates the chemical processes our oceans rely on for balance! Once I can get this "ant farm" protocol to consistently produce good results, I'm planning to expand it with sensors to measure all kinds of things like biological oxygen uptake, sediment stability, etc etc etc lol. I'm very excited with how it's going so far!!

In conclusion:

VOTE ANNELIDA!!!!!!

Phylum Round 3

Annelida: Segmented Worms. This group includes earthworms, leeches, and many classes under the umbrella of “polychaete”. This diverse phylum encompasses deposit feeders (eating dirt), detritivores, scavengers, deadly ambush predators, filter feeders, parasites, herbivores, and more. They are broadly defined by their repeating body segments and parapodia, which are nubby appendages used for both movement and breathing. Some have curved jaws for catching prey or scraping detritus off of rocks, while others have wide, elaborate, brightly colored feather-like fans for filter feeding. While able to crawl freely, a majority of marine Annelids spend most of their time in self-built tubes or burrows. Among their many important functions, they play a key role in mixing soil/sediment, breaking down decaying organic matter, and providing a key food source to countless other animals.

Cnidaria: Jellyfish, anemones, corals, box jellies, and hydroids. They have a gelatinous body with radial symmetry, a decentralized nervous system, and tentacles surrounding a simple mouth. The defining feature of this phylum are their cnidocytes, or stinging cells. There are two different body plans of the Cnidaria; an immobile “polyp” attached to a surface, or a free-living “medusa” which can swim or drift in the water column. Many polyp Cnidarians, such as corals, live in colonies. Some corals build reefs which serve as habitat for other animals. Free-living medusa Cnidarians must return to the seafloor in a polyp-like stage as a part of their life cycle.

[bookoffixedstars]

Left image: The stilt-legged sea-spider Colossendeis colossea walking slowly and cleaning the right palp with the right oviger. To the left a partly buried bivalve Limopsis compressus with a serpulid worm and the polyp Stephanoscyphus simplex on the shell. Right image: The isopod Munnopsis longiremis with the second antennae and two pairs of legs strongly elongated. In the background a backwards-swimming specimen. A small specimen of a sea-cucumber, Scotoplanes n. sp. in the foreground. Drawings by Poul H. Winther (1898-1966).

source

[drverm-blog]

•Diversity of Annelida Series (Sabellida)•🔹Serpulidae are close relatives of Sabellidae. They differ in several ways, but the notable one is that serpulids make calcareous tubes. Here is Ditrupa arietina from Sweden. It is found around northern Europe and the Mediterranean and was first named in 1776. The tubes are not attached to a rocky substrate as with most other serpulids and they can live in sediments. Their body, which is segmented and very annelid-like, is hidden in a tube that the worm secretes. The crown is an elaborate series of 'radioles' used for filter-feeding as with other serpulids. The common name for Ditrupa is 'tusk-worm and they are not to be confused with the mollusks called 'tusk shells' (Scaphopods), which look quite similar.🔹⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ •⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ •⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ •⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ •⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ •⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ •⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ •⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #Serpulidae #Ditrupa #annelid #worm #horseshoetubeworm #polychaete #Sweden Tjärnö #scrippsoceanography #scrippscollections #macro #underthesea #invertebrate #marine #sealife #marinelife #sea #oceanography #ocean #oceanlife #underwater #nature #naturephotography #ucsd #ucsandiego — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2NUDab5

[kaijuno]

So the environment created by undersea vents is thought to be a possible origin of life, considering the vast amounts and varieties of minerals vents throw out. As a matter of fact, Jupiter’s moon Europa is thought to have undersea vents that could very possibly contain life.

There are extremeophiles that thrive on geothermal vents like tardigrades and whatnot here on earth, surviving through a process called chemosynthesis as opposed to photosynthesis. These form the base of the food chain down there followed by “Riftia tube worms, also called giant tube worms, which can grow to their full size of almost five feet long in less than two years. Bathymodiolus deep sea mussels, which are often the first creatures to colonize the vent and are able to survive for a short time after the vent is inactive. Serpulid, or “feather duster” worms, and tevnia tubeworms, which are often the food of choice for vent crabs, the top predator of the vent community.”

Tube worms fall into that category of “weird sea monsters” however, no one really knows how long they live, but they die out fairly quickly once a geothermal vent closes, suggesting a more active metabolism. Deep sea muscles I couldn’t find a lifespan for, but most known species live between 2 and 50 years. Serpulid worms are reported to live around 1.5 years and Tevnia tubeworms about 10 years. Vent crabs are reported to live between 10 and 20 years.

I did find Lamellibrachia luymesi, a type of tube worm that can live for more than 170 years in deep sea seeps, similar to geothermal vents.

As for a creature that would become dormant between periods of seismic activity, I don’t see the need. Earthquakes are a lot more common than many people think and there aren’t often periods of no vent activity that would force an animal to adapt to having such a slow metabolism

Can I have a cursed giant creature fact?

sure! at lengths of over 55 feet and weights of 600 pounds, our friend the Oarfish surely qualifies :)

we don’t know a whole lot about the world’s longest bony fish, aside from that it rarely comes to the surface and inspired most of the Sea Serpent legends floating around. they’re fairly rare and live only in the Abyssopelagic Zone, around 3,300 feet down. but this is old news to everyone who’s seen the info posts about these guys going around, so what’s so cursed about this? well, I’ll tell you! 

have you ever wondered what the Oarfish gets up to, way down there? we didn’t realize this until we started sending ROVs and submarines into the deep sea to observe live ones, but Oarfish are… a little nontraditional as fish go. 

see, they don’t normally swim horizontally all majestic-like like in the pictures up there, it turns out that instead they spend their time just kind of… hanging vertically in the water column. 

motionless, staring at the surface with all 50+ feet of them vanishing into the darkness below.

and I don’t know about you but frankly, I find that a little creepy. 

[evoldir]

Fwd: Job: NHM_UOslo.MarineInvertebrateEvolution

Begin forwarded message: > From: evoldir@evol.biology.mcmaster.ca > Subject: Job: NHM_UOslo.MarineInvertebrateEvolution > Date: 7 November 2020 at 08:07:05 GMT > To: rdmpage@gmail.com > > > Principal Engineer in ArtsDatabanken project > > About the position > A part-time position as Principal Engineer (80%) is available at the > Natural History Museum (NHM), University of Oslo for two years. The > expected starting date is 01.04.2021. > > The Prinicipal Engineer will be part of the recently founded > ArtsDatabanken-project "Assessing biodiversity in the marine algae > belt". The marine algae belt comprising kelp forests, seagrass meadows > and rocky reefs with coralline red seaweeds is one of the most active > primary producing environments in the sea. It also harbors are great > diversity of animals including sea squirts, ribbon worms, nick worms, > serpulid worms, spionid worms and ghost shrimps. The species of these > groups occupy important ecological functions as herbivores, predators and > filter-feeding organisms and can be sessile or agile as well as solitary > or colonial. Globally these taxa comprise more than 7,000 species with > around 250 species documented from Norwegian waters. Despite this the > knowledge about their taxonomy and distribution in Norway is at best > poor and in dire need of improvement. Specimens in museum collections are > often quite old material, which additionally is often wrongly determined > due to unresolved taxonomic issues including the high degree of cryptic > species in these groups. Besides cryptic species, many of these taxa > include invasive species causing among others high economic damage in > aquaculture and ship transportation due to biofouling.  This is why we > will conduct a field inventory in this habitat and collect species of > these taxa in Norway (from the Skagerrak up to 70°N). With morphological > and molecular methods, we will determine the species and learn more > about their distribution (including reports from history and now) and > their association with Norwegian nature types. Therefore, we also want to > revise the existing museum collections in Norway. Through the project, > we will contribute to basic biosystematics and species distribution > research in general, and more specifically and importantly to red > lists or other nature conservation management actions (e.g. updated > information on distributions of invasive and native species including > cryptic ones and their preferred habitats).  The Natural History Museum > has a modern DNA laboratory as well as microscopic infrastructure needed > for the project. The position will be associated with the research > group "Frontiers in Evolutionary Zoology", specifically Torsten Struck > (Professor of Evolutionary Genomics). > > Work tasks > - Sorting and identifying specimens from the different habitats to the >  required taxonomic level > - Photographic documentation of the species > - Cataloguing and curating the species for the scientific collections > - Determination of molecular barcodes for the different species > - Compilation of research results into reports and publications > - Field sampling (by boat, snorkeling, diving) > > Qualification requirements > - Applicants must hold at least a Bachelor's degree or equivalent >  in biology. > - We seek a person with strong motivation for research in marine >  invertebrates. > - The candidate must be skilled in sorting, identifying and curating of >  invertebrates, preferably marine ones. > - Experience with molecular-biological methods is preferable. > - Taxonomic knowledge in one the projects groups (i.e., Tunicata, >  Nemertea, Kamptozoa, Serpulidae, Spionidae or Caprellidae), possession >  of a diving licence and/or work experience in a museum is >  advantageous. > - Communication skills (including written and spoken English) > > We offer > salary NOK 416 400 - 482 200 per annum in full time position (100%) > depending on qualifications in a position as Principal Engineer (position > code 1085) A friendly working environment, which is close to both the city > center of Oslo, a vibrant and international city, which )is nice to live > in, and to nature parks and mountains Full funding of the project-related > activities, including molecular lab work and participation on field > trips Training in the different animal groups including stays with our > international cooperation partners Flexibility with the arrangement of > the working hours Membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension > Fund Attractive welfare benefits > > How to apply > - The application must include: > - cover letter statement of motivation > - CV (summarizing education, positions and academic work) > - copies of educational certificates (academic transcripts only) > - list of reference persons: 2-3 references (name, relation to >  candidate, e-mail and phone number) > - The application with attachments must be > delivered in our recruiting system. (see here > https://ift.tt/2GB344Y) > > Formal regulations > According to the Norwegian Freedom of Information Act (Offentleglova) > information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant > list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure. > The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to > secure rights to research results etc. > > Contact information > Professor Torsten Struck, phone number:+47 22851740, e-mail: > t.h.struck@nhm.uio.no > > About the University of Oslo > The University of Oslo is Norway's oldest and highest ranked educational > and research institution, with 28 000 students and 7000 employees. > With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally > recognised research communities, UiO is an important contributor > to society.  The Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo is > Norway's most comprehensive natural history collection. For almost 200 > years, specimens of animals, fungi, plants, rocks, minerals and fossils > have been collected, studied and preserved here. The museum is located at > Űkern and in the beautiful Botanical Garden, which is not only popular > for recreation, but is a scientific collection in itself. > > Jobbnorge ID: 195709, Deadline: 22.11.2020 > > Torsten Hugo Struck > via IFTTT

[javsdiaz97]

🇵🇦Gusanos árbol de navidad 🇬🇧Christmas tree worm 🤓Spirobranchus giganteus🤓 . Christmas tree worms, Spirobranchus giganteus, are found on coral reefs in tropical waters worldwide.🌲🌳🌱 . With a Christmas tree-shaped serpulid tube-dwelling worms with magnificent twin spirals of plumes used for feeding and respiration. 👃🏻👃🏻👃🏻 . These cone-shaped worms are one of the most widely recognized sedentary polychaete worms. They come in many colors including orange, yellow, blue, and white and, though they are small with an average 3.8 cm in span, they are easily spotted due to their shape, beauty, and color.🔴🟠🟡🟢🔵🟣 . The colorful plumes, or tentacles, are used for passive feeding on suspended food particles and plankton in the water. The plumes are also used for respiration. Though the plumes are visible, most of these worms are anchored in their burrows that they bore into live calcareous coral.🦞🦐🦀 . Christmas tree worms are very sensitive to disturbances and will rapidly retract into their burrows at the slightest touch or passing shadow. They typically re-emerge a minute later, very slowly, to test the water before fully extending their plumes.🙈🙉🙊 . ➡️Reference: https://marinebio.org/species/christmas-tree-worms/spirobranchus-giganteus/ . . #gusano #polychaeta #panama #ocean #coralreef #below #sea #olympus #shot #colon #animal #animales #marine #ecosystem #wild #dive #calm #colors #coral #oceano #mar #marinebiology #biology #onlynature #nature #wander #snorkel #olympustg6 #arrecife #reef 💙💙💙 (at Portobelo, Colon, Panama) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFR1X2qBtJp/?igshid=uwa9k91m4hmc

[geologyjohnson]

#serpulid worm tubes in the Greater Oolite from middle #jurassic #Oxford

[rbbox]

Cancer pagurus

Cancer pagurus

Cancer pagurus, commonly known as the edible crab or brown crab, is a species of crab found in the North Sea, North Atlantic Ocean and perhaps in the Mediterranean Sea. It is a robust crab of a reddish-brown colour, having an oval carapace with a characteristic "pie crust" edge and black tips to the claws. A mature adult may have a carapace width of up to 25 cm (10 in) and weigh up to 3 kg (6.6 lb). C. pagurus is a nocturnal predator, targeting a range of molluscs and crustaceans. It is the subject of the largest crab fishery in Western Europe, centred on the coasts of the British Isles, with more than 60,000 tonnes caught annually. Description Mouthparts and chelae of a female Ventral view of an egg-bearing female The carapace of C. pagurus adults is a reddish-brown colour, while in young specimens it is purple-brown. It occasionally bears white patches, and is shaped along the front edge into nine rounded lobes, resembling a pie crust. Males typically have a carapace 60 millimetres (2.4 in) long, and females 98 mm (4 in) long, although they may reach up to 150 mm (6 in) long in exceptional cases. Carapace width is typically 150 mm (6 in), or exceptionally up to 250 mm (10 in). A fold of the carapace extends ventrally to constitute a branchial chamber where the gills lie. The first pereiopod is modified into a strong cheliped (claw-bearing leg): the claw's fingers, the dactylus and propodus, are black at the tips. The other pereiopods are covered with rows of short stiff setae; the dactylus of each is black towards the tip, and ends in a sharp point. From the front, the antennae and antennules are visible. Beside these there are the orbits in which the eyes are situated. The mouthparts comprise three pairs of maxillipeds, behind which there are a pair of maxillae, a pair of maxillules, and finally the mandibles. In common with most crabs, the abdomen is folded under the thorax and shows clear sexual dimorphism: in males it is comparatively narrow, whereas in the female it is wider. Life cycle Reproduction occurs in winter; the male stands over the female and forms a cage with his legs protecting her while she moults. Internal fertilisation takes place before the hardening of the new carapace, with the aid of two abdominal appendages (gonopods). After mating, the female retreats to a pit on the sea floor to lay her eggs. Between 250,000 and 3,000,000 fertilised eggs are held under the female's abdomen for up to eight months until they hatch. The first developmental stage after hatching is a planktonic larva (1 mm) called the zoea that develops into a postlarva (megalopa), and finally a juvenile. The first juvenile stage is characterised by a well-developed abdomen, which will, in time, become reduced in size and folded under the sternum. Juveniles settle to the sea floor in the intertidal zone, where they stay until they reach a carapace width of 60–70 mm (2.4–2.8 in) and then migrate to deeper water. The growth rate in males slows from an increase in carapace width of 10 mm per year before it is eight years old, to 2 mm per year thereafter. Females grow at about half the rate of males, probably due to the energetic demands of egg laying. Sexual maturity is reached at a carapace width of 12.7 cm (5.0 in) in females, and 11 cm (4.3 in) in males. Longevity is typically 25–30 years, although exceptional individuals may live for up to 100 years. Distribution and ecology The blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, is a favourite food of Cancer pagurus. Cancer pagurus is abundant throughout the northeast Atlantic as far as Norway in the north and northern Africa in the south, on mixed coarse grounds, mud and sand from the shallow sublittoral to depths of about 100 metres (330 ft). It is frequently found inhabiting cracks and holes in rocks but occasionally also in open areas. Smaller specimens may be found under rocks in the littoral zone. Unconfirmed reports suggest that C. pagurus may also occur in the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. Adult C. pagurus are nocturnal, hiding buried in the substrate during the day, but foraging at night up to 50 metres (160 ft) from their hideouts. Their diet includes a variety of crustaceans (including the crabs Carcinus maenas and Pilumnus hirtellus, the porcelain crabs Porcellana platycheles and Pisidia longicornis, and the squat lobster Galathea squamifera) and molluscs (including the gastropods Nucella lapillus and Littorina littorea, and the bivalves Ensis, Mytilus edulis, Cerastoderma edule, Ostrea edulis and Lutraria lutraria). It may stalk or ambush motile prey, and may dig large pits to reach buried molluscs. The main predator of Cancer pagurus is the octopus, which will even attack them inside the crab pots that fishermen use to trap them. Compared to other commercially important crab species, relatively little is known about diseases of Cancer pagurus. Its parasites include viruses, such as the white spot syndrome virus, various bacteria that cause dark lesions on the exoskeleton, and Hematodinium-like dinoflagellates that cause "pink crab disease". Other microscopic pathogens include fungi, microsporidians, paramyxeans and ciliates. Cancer pagurus is also targeted by metazoan parasites, including trematodes and parasitic barnacles. A number of sessile animals occasionally settle as epibionts on the exoskeleton of C. pagurus, including barnacles, sea anemones, serpulid polychaetes such as Janua pagenstecheri, bryozoans and saddle oysters. Fishery Crab pots, Lindisfarne, North Sea Cancer pagurus is heavily exploited commercially throughout its range, being the most commercially important crab species in Western Europe. The crabs are caught using crab pots (similar to lobster pots) which are placed offshore and baited. The catch of C. pagurus has increased steadily, rising from 26,000 tonnes in 1978 to 60,000 t in 2007, of which more than 70% was caught around the British Isles. The fishery is widely dispersed around the British and Irish coasts, and C. pagurus is thought to be overfished across much of this area. Most of the edible crabs caught by the British fleet are exported live for sale in France and Spain. A number of legal restrictions apply to the catching of Cancer pagurus. It is illegal to catch "berried" crabs (females carrying eggs), but since ovigerous females remain in pits dug in the sediment and do not feed, fishing pressure does not affect the supply of larvae. Minimum landing sizes (MLS) for C. pagurus are set by both the European Union technical regulations and by the UK government. Different minimum sizes are employed in different geographical areas, to reflect differences in the crab's growth rate across its range. In particular, the "Cromer crab" fishery along the coasts of Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincolnshire is subject to a MLS of 115 mm (4.5 in), rather than the 140 mm (5.5 in) MLS in most of the species' range. An intermediate value of 130 mm (5.1 in) is used in the rest of the North Sea between the 56th parallel north and the Essex–Kent border, and in the Irish Sea south of 55° N. Around Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, there is a separate MLS for males (160 mm or 6.3 in) and females (140 mm or 5.5 in). The Norwegian catch is 8,500 tons annually, compared to 20,000 tons in the United Kingdom, 13,000 tons in Ireland, 8,500 tons in France, and a total 45,000 tons globally. Cookery Around one third of the weight of an adult edible crab is meat, of which one third is white meat from the claws (see declawing of crabs), and two thirds is brown meat from the body. As food, male edible crabs are referred to as cocks and females as hens. Cocks have more sweet white meat; hens have more rich brown meat. Dishes include dressed crab (crab meat arranged in the cleaned shell, sometimes with decoration of other foodstuffs), soups such as bisque or bouillabaisse, pâtés, mousses and hot soufflés. Taxonomy and systematics External identifiers for Cancer pagurus Encyclopedia of Life 1022230 ITIS 98681 NCBI 6755 WoRMS 107276 Also found in: Wikispecies According to the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Cancer pagurus was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae, which marks the starting point of zoological nomenclature. It was chosen to be the type species of the genus Cancer by Pierre André Latreille in 1810. The specific epithet pagurus is a Latin word, deriving from the Ancient Greek πάγουρος (pagouros), which, alongside "κάρκινος" (karkinos), was used to refer to edible marine crabs; neither classical term can be confidently assigned to a particular species. Although the genus Cancer formerly included most crabs, it has since been restricted to eight species. Within that set of closely related species, the closest relative of C. pagurus is the Jonah crab, Cancer borealis, from the east coast of North America. source - Wikipedia Dear friends, if you liked our post, please do not forget to share and comment like this. If you want to share your information with us, please send us your post with your name and photo at RBbox.in@gmail.com. We will publish your post with your name and photo. thanks for joining us www.rbbox.in

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[marineexplorer]

Bed hair trumpeter of Serpulid worm? #marineexplorer by John Turnbull Via Flickr: I'd say both, except it's underwater and the hair is the feeding structure of the worm and the trumpet is the trapdoor it pulls shut behind itself when retracted into its hole. Kurnell

[distinguishedbluevoid]

Oh Christmas tree worm, Oh Christmas tree worm! Thy leaves are so unchanging

The Christmas tree worm, or Spirobranchus giganteus is a type of tree-shaped serpulid worm  frequently found on coral reefs and around tropical waters in the class Polychaete. The interesting thing about the christmas tree worm is actually how it feeds. They eat using their radioles, or hair like feathers that circle from their spine. Their main source of food is Phytoplankton floating in the water around them. The food is then passed through their ciliary tracts surrounded by hair like extensions that use water to sort the food. Each worm has two “trees” and can live for up to 40 years. They typically prefer shallow water and choose a place on the coral reef and stay there for most of its life. Christmas tree worms only grow to about 1.5 inches and a very skittish creatures. If they sense any movement in the water they quickly retract behind their operculum, a special body structure that acts like a door. They reproduce sexually by the releasing their sperm and eggs into the water, but they are also capable of reproducing asexually through a process known as paratomy.  Even with their small size they have a fully functional digestive system and a well-developed circulatory system, as well as a central brain. One of their most interesting traits is their eyes that breathe and their gills that see.  The thing that makes them so popular is their very beautiful colors that make them a very common photograph subject.     

http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=543

https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/welcome-to-the-magical-world-of-christmas-tree-worms

http://www.private-scuba.com/sea-life/marine/invertebrates/annelids/christmas-tree-worms.html

https://www.thoughtco.com/christmas-tree-worm-2291821