Eunice norvegica | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
Class: | |
Order: | |
Family: | |
Genus: | |
Species: | E. norvegica |
Binomial name | |
Eunice norvegica | |
Synonyms [2] | |
|
Eunice norvegica is an aquatic polychaete worm found in deep water on the seabed of the northern Atlantic Ocean as well as in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is a tubeworm and is often associated with deep water corals.
E. norvegica can grow to a length of about 20 cm (8 in), and is pink, brownish or black with some brown spotting. The prostomium, the front-most segment, is slightly lobed and bears two eyes and five antennae. The peristomium, the adjoining segment. is about four times as long as the prostomium. The remaining segments each bear a pair of parapodia and several bristles. [3]
The species is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea, the Skagerrak and probably the Øresund, as well as in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In general, it inhabits an irregularly bent, sometimes branching, parchment-like tube partially embedded in soft sediment such as sand, muddy sand, mud, gravel, broken shell or fragments of coral. The tube has extra openings at the bends. Its depth range is from 20 to 1,300 m (100 to 4,300 ft). [3]
E. norvegica is an omnivore, predator and scavenger. [2] It often lives in association with deep water corals such as Lophelia pertusa . Other branching corals with which it associates include Madrepore and Solenosmilia . The worm wraps its tube around branches of the coral and this stimulates the coral to produce extra skeletal material which may overgrow the worm's tube. [3] This extra growth probably strengthens the coral and at the same time provides protection for the worm. It appears to be a mutualistic arrangement, the worm sometimes stealing food particles from the coral polyps, but also helping keep the coral surface clear of sediment. [4]
Darwin Mounds is a large field of undersea sand mounds situated off the north west coast of Scotland that were first discovered in May 1998. They provide a unique habitat for ancient deep water coral reefs and were found using remote sensing techniques during surveys funded by the oil industry and steered by the joint industry and United Kingdom government group the Atlantic Frontier Environment Network (AFEN). The mounds were named after the research vessel, itself named for the eminent naturalist and evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin.
Lophelia pertusa, the only species in the genus Lophelia, is a cold-water coral which grows in the deep waters throughout the North Atlantic ocean, as well as parts of the Caribbean Sea and Alboran Sea. L. pertusa reefs are home to a diverse community, however the species is extremely slow growing and may be harmed by destructive fishing practices, or oil exploration and extraction.
The Bear Seamount is a guyot or flat-topped underwater volcano in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the oldest of the New England Seamounts, which was active more than 100 million years ago. It was formed when the North American Plate moved over the New England hotspot. It is located inside the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, which was proclaimed by President of the United States Barack Obama to protect the seamount's biodiversity.
The habitat of deep-water corals, also known as cold-water corals, extends to deeper, darker parts of the oceans than tropical corals, ranging from near the surface to the abyss, beyond 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) where water temperatures may be as cold as 4 °C (39 °F). Deep-water corals belong to the Phylum Cnidaria and are most often stony corals, but also include black and horny corals and soft corals including the Gorgonians. Like tropical corals, they provide habitat to other species, but deep-water corals do not require zooxanthellae to survive.
Madrepora oculata, also called zigzag coral, is a stony coral that is found worldwide outside of the polar regions, growing in deep water at depths of 80–1500 meters. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is one of only 12 species of coral that are found worldwide, including in Subantarctic oceans. In some areas, such as in the Mediterranean Sea and the North-east Atlantic Ocean, it dominates communities of coral.
Hotspot Ecosystem Research and Man's Impact On European Seas (HERMIONE) is an international multidisciplinary project, started in April 2009, that studies deep-sea ecosystems. HERMIONE scientists study the distribution of hotspot ecosystems, how they function and how they interconnect, partially in the context of how these ecosystems are being affected by climate change and impacted by humans through overfishing, resource extraction, seabed installations and pollution. Major aims of the project are to understand how humans are affecting the deep-sea environment and to provide policy makers with accurate scientific information, enabling effective management strategies to protect deep sea ecosystems. The HERMIONE project is funded by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme, and is the successor to the HERMES project, which concluded in March 2009.
Eumunida picta is a species of squat lobster found in the deep sea. The species is strongly associated with reefs of Lophelia pertusa, a deep-water coral, and with methane seeps. It is abundant in the western Atlantic Ocean, where it is found from Massachusetts to Colombia.
Serpula is a genus of sessile, marine annelid tube worms that belongs to the family Serpulidae. Serpulid worms are very similar to tube worms of the closely related sabellid family, except that the former possess a cartilaginous operculum that occludes the entrance to their protective tube after the animal has withdrawn into it. The most distinctive feature of worms of the genus Serpula is their colorful fan-shaped "crown". The crown, used by these animals for respiration and alimentation, is the structure that is most commonly seen by scuba divers and other casual observers.
Lagis koreni, commonly known as the trumpet worm, is a species of marine polychaete worm found in European waters. It lives within a narrow conical tube made of grains of sand and shell fragments.
Serpula vermicularis, known by common names including the calcareous tubeworm, fan worm, plume worm or red tube worm, is a species of segmented marine polychaete worm in the family Serpulidae. It is the type species of the genus Serpula and was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of Systema Naturae. It lives in a tube into which it can retract.
The Rost Reef is a deep-water coral reef off the coast of the Lofoten islands in Nordland county, Norway. The reef was discovered in 2002, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of the island of Røstlandet. It extends over a length of about 43 kilometers (27 mi), and has a width of up to 6.9 kilometers (4.3 mi). The reef is generated by the coral Lophelia pertusa, and is the world's largest known Lophelia reef. It is also the world's largest known deep-water coral reef. The authorities have introduced regulations to protect the reef against trawling. The temperature of the waters near the bottom of the Rost coral reef is 2 °C. WWF recognises the Røst Reef as a global natural heritage that merits protection through Marine Protected Area (MPA) status.
Paragorgia arborea is a species of coral in the family Paragorgiidae, commonly known as the bubblegum coral. It mainly grows in depths between 200 and 1,300 metres at temperatures between 2 and 8 °C. It is found widespread in the northern Atlantic Ocean including on seamounts and knolls, and was first described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758.
Phyllodoce maculata is a species of Polychaete worm in the family Phyllodocidae. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean where it inhabits shallow water areas of sand, mud and stones.
Polydora ciliata is a species of annelid worm in the family Spionidae, commonly known as a bristleworm. It is a burrowing worm and is found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and some other parts of the world.
Leucia nivea is a species of polychaete worm, commonly known as a "scale worm", in the family Polynoidae. This species occurs in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
Leucia violacea is a species of polychaete worm, commonly known as a "scale worm", in the family Polynoidae. This species occurs in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean.
Eunice aphroditois is a bristle worm ranging from less than 10 cm (4 in) to 3 m (10 ft) long that inhabits burrows it creates on the ocean floor. It lives mainly in the Atlantic Ocean, but can also be found in the Indo-Pacific ocean area. This species is an ambush predator and hunts by burrowing its whole body in soft sediment on the ocean floor and waits until nearby prey is picked up on one of its sensor antennae. It is also equipped with sharp teeth-like structures to strike prey. It displays a wide range of colors from black to purple to metallic on its shell. It lives in typically warmer waters and often hunts either burrowed in a stationary place or among coral reefs.
Aspidosiphon muelleri is a species of unsegmented benthic marine worm in the phylum Sipuncula, the peanut worms. This worm is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and in various locations in the Indo-Pacific region at depths down to about 1,000 m (3,300 ft).
Poecilochaetus serpens is a species of marine polychaete worm in the family Poecilochaetidae. It is a benthic worm that burrows into soft sediment.
Phyllodoce lineata is a species of polychaete worm in the family Phyllodocidae. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea where it occurs in the intertidal and shallow sub-tidal zones on soft sediment.