| Galeolaria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Illustration | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Class: | Polychaeta |
| Order: | Sabellida |
| Family: | Serpulidae |
| Subfamily: | Serpulinae |
| Genus: | Galeolaria Lamarck, 1818 |
| Species | |
Two; see text | |
Galeolaria is a genus of coastal tube-building annelid fanworms in the family Serpulidae, found from southern Queensland, to New Zealand and southern Australian shores, to Western Australia.
The body is symmetrical, with a branchial crown made up of two lobes, one holding a stalked operculum. The operculum is winged with spines. The operculum seals the tube when the animal retreats into its tube. The tentacles of the branchial crown are used as gills and as a way of capturing food.
Galeolaria build and live within white to grey calcareous tubes, up to 3 cm in length. These tubes may be found singly or in complex interwoven colonies, forming a distinctive zone at the mid tidal regions. They may be so thick and dense that they form a microhabitat for many other creatures. When expose to air at low tide, these animals retreat within their tubes.
A distinctive zone-forming species with its upper limit at the lowest neap water high-water mark. Isolated tubes may be found at any level, even above the highest tide, only being wetted by spray.
The genus contains two described species:
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Dicathais is a genus of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Muricidae, the rock snails. This genus is monotypic; the only species in it is Dicathais orbita, common name the white rock shell or cart-rut shell, found round the coasts of Australia and New Zealand.
Isobel Ida Bennett AO 1984 was one of Australia's best-known marine biologists. She assisted William John Dakin with research for his final book regarded by many as "the definitive guide on the intertidal zone, and a recommended source of information to divers". Following Dakin's death in 1950, she saw the book through to publication in 1952, and she continued to revise and reprint it with a complete revision in 1980 until 1992. In later editions, she was listed as a co-author, then first author. She also wrote nine other books, and was one of the first women to go south with the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE).
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Hinea brasiliana, common name the yellow-coated clusterwink, is a species of small sea snail, a gastropod mollusc in the family Planaxidae. It is native to New Zealand and southeastern Australia where it is found in the littoral zone of rocky shores. It is one of only a few sea snail species able to bioluminesce.
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Phragmatopoma californica, commonly known as the sandcastle worm, the honeycomb worm or the honeycomb tube worm, is a reef-forming marine polychaete worm belonging to the family Sabellarididae. It is dark brown in color with a crown of lavender tentacles and has a length of up to about 7.5 centimeters (3.0 in). The worm inhabits the Californian coast, from Sonoma County to northern Baja California.
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Cerithidea decollata, common name the truncated mangrove snail, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Potamididae.
Janua pagenstecheri is a species of marine polychaete. It is widely distributed around the British Isles and across north-western Europe, and has been described as "probably the commonest spirorbid in the world".
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Ophiothrix fragilis is a species of brittle star in the order Ophiurida. It is found around the coasts of western Europe and is known in Britain as the common brittle star. It is also found along the coast of South Africa where it is known as the hairy brittle star.
Galeolaria caespitosa is a worm of the family Serpulidae, casually referred to as Sydney coral when found in dense aggregations. It is an Australian inter-tidal tube worm which lives within a hard tube like shell, which prevents desiccation at high tide. Black feathery gills emerge when it is underwater for it to filter feed on plankton.
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