Eupolymnia nebulosa

Eupolymnia nebulosa
	Eupolymnia nebulosa and Crambe crambe
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Annelida
Class:	Polychaeta
Order:	Terebellida
Family:	Terebellidae
Genus:	Eupolymnia
Species:	E. nebulosa
Binomial name
	Eupolymnia nebulosa; (Montagu, 1818)
Synonyms
	Amphiro nebulosa Montagu, 1808; Amphitrite meckelii Delle Chiaje, 1822; Amphitritoides rapax Costa, 1862; Pallonia rapax Costa, 1862; Pista cristata occidentalis Bidenkap in Nordgaard, 1907; Polymnia nebulosa (Montagu, 1818); Terebella debilis Malmgren, 1866; Terebella nebulosa Montagu, 1818; Terebella tuberculata Dalyell, 1853 [1] ;

Last updated March 31, 2019

Eupolymnia nebulosa is a species of sedentary marine polychaete worm in the Terebellidae family. It builds a tube of slime under stones or large shells on soft substrates on the lower shore and down to depths of about 500 metres.

In biology, a species ( ) is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. While these definitions may seem adequate, when looked at more closely they represent problematic species concepts. For example, the boundaries between closely related species become unclear with hybridisation, in a species complex of hundreds of similar microspecies, and in a ring species. Also, among organisms that reproduce only asexually, the concept of a reproductive species breaks down, and each clone is potentially a microspecies.

The Terebellidae is a marine family of Polychaete worms, of which the type taxon is Terebella, described by Linnaeus in 1767.

Description

The tube built by E. nebulosa can be up to twenty-five centimeters long. The soft body is up to seventeen centimeters long, broadest in the front, tapering, yellowish or orange with white markings. The body is divided into about one hundred segments, seventeen of which have bristles growing out of small warts. There is a crown of numerous long, pinkish thread-like tentacles which writhe sinuously even when broken off.^[2] There are many eye spots on the dorsal surface and laterally behind the tentacles. There are three pairs of branched red gills on segments 2 to 4 and there are lateral lobes on the same segments. There are 14 to 15 ventral shields on the thorax and there are chaetae on all the segments from 4 onwards.^[3]

Tentacle varied organ found in many animals and used for palpation and manipulation

In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work mainly like muscular hydrostats. Most forms of tentacles are used for grasping and feeding. Many are sensory organs, variously receptive to touch, vision, or to the smell or taste of particular foods or threats. Examples of such tentacles are the "eye stalks" of various kinds of snails. Some kinds of tentacles have both sensory and manipulatory functions.

A gill is a respiratory organ found in many aquatic organisms that extracts dissolved oxygen from water and excretes carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are kept moist. The microscopic structure of a gill presents a large surface area to the external environment. Branchia is the zoologists' name for gills.

A chaeta or cheta is a chitinous bristle or seta found on an insect, arthropod or annelid worms such as the earthworm, although the term is also frequently used to describe similar structures in other invertebrates. The plural form is chaetae or chetae.

Distribution

E. nebulosa occurs in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean, round the coasts of South America, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, Australian waters, the Kerguelen Islands, Japan, the Mediterranean Sea, the Scandinavian coast, the Kattegat, the Shetland Islands and the east coast of Scotland.^[3]

South America is a continent in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It may also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas, which is how it is viewed in the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions of the Americas. The reference to South America instead of other regions has increased in the last decades due to changing geopolitical dynamics.

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. To the north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez. The Red Sea is a Global 200 ecoregion. The sea is underlain by the Red Sea Rift which is part of the Great Rift Valley.

The Persian Gulf is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz and lies between Iran to the northeast and the Arabian Peninsula to the southwest. The Shatt al-Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline.

Habitat

E. nebulosa is found on soft substrates such as clay, silt, fine and coarse sand from the littoral zone down to about 500 metres.^[3]

Clay is a finely-grained natural rock or soil material that combines one or more clay minerals with possible traces of quartz (SiO₂), metal oxides (Al₂O₃, MgO etc.) and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure. Clays are plastic due to particle size and geometry as well as water content, and become hard, brittle and non–plastic upon drying or firing. Depending on the soil's content in which it is found, clay can appear in various colours from white to dull grey or brown to deep orange-red.

Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay, whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as sediment mixed in suspension with water and soil in a body of water such as a river. It may also exist as soil deposited at the bottom of a water body, like mudflows from landslides. Silt has a moderate specific area with a typically non-sticky, plastic feel. Silt usually has a floury feel when dry, and a slippery feel when wet. Silt can be visually observed with a hand lens, exhibiting a sparkly appearance. It also can be felt by the tongue as granular when placed on the front teeth.

Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles. It is defined by size, being finer than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of soil or soil type; i.e., a soil containing more than 85 percent sand-sized particles by mass.

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References

↑ World Register of Marine Species
↑ John Barrett and C M Young, ‘’Collins Pocket Guide to the Sea Shore’’ (1958) p.80
1 2 3 Marine Species Identification Portal

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[1] World Register of Marine Species

[CPG-2] John Barrett and C M Young, ‘’Collins Pocket Guide to the Sea Shore’’ (1958) p.80

[MSIP-3] 1 2 3 Marine Species Identification Portal

Eupolymnia nebulosa

Eupolymnia nebulosa and Crambe crambe
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Annelida
Class:	Polychaeta
Order:	Terebellida
Family:	Terebellidae
Genus:	Eupolymnia
Species:	E. nebulosa
Binomial name
*Eupolymnia nebulosa* (Montagu, 1818)
Synonyms
Amphiro nebulosa Montagu, 1808 Amphitrite meckelii Delle Chiaje, 1822 Amphitritoides rapax Costa, 1862 Pallonia rapax Costa, 1862 Pista cristata occidentalis Bidenkap in Nordgaard, 1907 Polymnia nebulosa (Montagu, 1818) Terebella debilis Malmgren, 1866 Terebella nebulosa Montagu, 1818 Terebella tuberculata Dalyell, 1853 ^[1]