Neosabellaria cementarium

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Neosabellaria cementarium
Neosabellaria cementarium.jpg
Image of Neosabellaria cementarium
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Annelida
Clade: Pleistoannelida
Subclass: Sedentaria
Family: Sabellariidae
Genus: Neosabellaria
Species:
N. cementarium
Binomial name
Neosabellaria cementarium
(Moore, 1906) [1]
Synonyms [1]
  • Sabellaria cementarium Moore, 1906

Neosabellaria cementarium is a species of marine tube worm in the family Sabellariidae, perhaps better known by its previous name, Sabellaria cementarium. It is found in the North Pacific Ocean.

Contents

Description

Neosabellaria cementarium lives in a tube which it creates by cementing together grains of sand. This is attached along its length to a rock, shell or other hard substrate. At first it is short but it is widened and extended as the worm grows, sometimes reaching a length of more than 7 centimetres (2.8 in) [2] and a diameter of 4 millimetres (0.16 in). The worm is largely hidden within the tube but it has a yellow or golden-coloured operculum and a number of fine tentacles which it extends in order to feed. [3] Sometimes the tubes are solitary and sometimes they are grouped together but this species does not form reefs. [3]

In California, Neosabellaria cementarium can be confused with the sandcastle worm (Phragmatopoma californica). The latter is a reef-building worm and its tentacles and operculum are purple rather than yellow. [3]

Distribution

Neosabellaria cementarium is found in a range extending from Alaska to southern California.

Biology

Neosabellaria cementarium has trochophore larvae which form part of the plankton. Each larva has a ciliated band with two bundles of long, barbed setae (bristles), one on each side of its body. These are fanned out when the larva is feeding and seem to have a defensive function, perhaps preventing a predator from recognizing the larva as a prey item or irritating the mouth tissues of comb jellies or other predators. Another band of short cilia at the posterior end of the larva enable it to swim, and when it is doing this, the setae are held alongside the body. [4]

In Puget Sound, Washington, aggregations of up to 3,500 tubes of Neosabellaria cementarium per square metre at depths of between 15 and 40 metres (49 and 131 ft) were found to provide a habitat to a diverse range of other organisms not found in adjacent areas. [5]

Neosabellaria cementarium is one of a number of fouling organisms that live as epibionts on the shells of scallops such as Chlamys hastata and Chlamys rubida . [2]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthozoa</span> Class of cnidarians without a medusa stage

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoronid</span> Phylum of marine animals, horseshoe worms

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<i>Sabellaria alveolata</i> Species of annelid worm

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<i>Phragmatopoma californica</i> Species of annelid worm

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.

<i>Chlamys hastata</i> Species of bivalve

Chlamys hastata, the spear scallop, spiny scallop or swimming scallop, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Pectinidae found on the west coast of North America from the Gulf of Alaska to San Diego, California. A limited number of these scallops are harvested by divers or by narrow trawls off the west coast of Canada.

<i>Hydroides norvegica</i> Species of annelid worm

Hydroides norvegica is a species of tube-forming annelid worm in the family Serpulidae. It is found on submerged rocks, shells, piles and boats in many coastal areas around the world. It is the type species of the genus Hydroides.

<i>Lanice conchilega</i> Species of marine worm

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sabellariidae</span> Family of annelid worms

Sabellariidae is a family of marine polychaete worms in the suborder Sabellida. The worms live in tubes made of sand and are filter feeders and detritivores.

<i>Eudistylia polymorpha</i> Species of annelid

Eudistylia polymorpha, the giant feather duster worm, is a species of marine polychaete worm belonging to the family Sabellidae. Its common name is from the crown of tentacles extended when the animal is under water.

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<i>Sabellaria</i> Genus of annelid worms

Sabellaria is a genus of marine polychaete worms in the family Sabellariidae. The type species is Sabellaria alveolata. These worms are sedentary and build tubes in which to live from sand and shell fragments. Some species are called honeycomb worms and when they occur in great numbers they can form reefs on rocks and other hard substrates. They are filter feeders, extending a plume-like fan of radioles from the end of the tube in order to catch plankton and detritus floating past. They have a distinctive operculum which is used to block the opening of the tube when the radioles are retracted.

<i>Sabellaria spinulosa</i> Species of annelid

Sabellaria spinulosa is a species of marine polychaete worm in the family Sabellariidae, commonly known as the Ross worm. It lives in a tube built of sand, gravel and pieces of shell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antarctic scallop</span> Genus of bivalves

The Antarctic scallop is a species of bivalve mollusc in the large family of scallops, the Pectinidae. It was thought to be the only species in the genus Adamussium until an extinct Pliocene species was described in 2016. Its exact relationship to other members of the Pectinidae is unclear. It is found in the ice-cold seas surrounding Antarctica, sometimes at great depths.

<i>Crassadoma</i> Genus of bivalves

Crassadoma is a genus of rock scallops, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Pectinidae. It is monotypic, the only species being Crassadoma gigantea, the rock scallop, giant rock scallop or purple-hinge rock scallop. Although the small juveniles are free-swimming, they soon become sessile, and are cemented to the substrate. These scallops occur in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

<i>Chlamys rubida</i> Species of bivalve

Chlamys rubida is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Pectinidae found on the west coast of North America from the Gulf of Alaska to San Diego, California.

Mycale adhaerens, the purple scallop sponge, is a species of marine demosponge in the family Mycalidae. Mycale is a large genus and this species is placed in the subgenus Aegogropila making its full name, Mycale (Aegogropila) adhaerens. It grows symbiotically on the valves of scallop shells and is native to the west coast of North America.

References

  1. 1 2 Fauchald, Kristian (2010). "Neosabellaria cementarium (Moore, 1906)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  2. 1 2 Lescinsky, Halard L. (1993). "Taphonomy and Paleoecology of Epibionts on the Scallops Chlamys hastata (Sowerby 1843) and Chlamys rubida (Hinds 1845)". PALAIOS. 8 (3): 267–277. doi:10.2307/3515149. JSTOR   3515149.
  3. 1 2 3 James Watanabe. "Polychaeta: Sabellaria cementarium". SeaNet: Common Marine Organisms of Monterey Bay, California. Archived from the original on 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  4. Maslakova, Svetlana (2010-05-25). "Invertebrate embryology: Sabellaria cementarium larvae". Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  5. Gherardi, Francesca; Cassidy, Paul M. (1994). "Macrobenthic associates of bioherms of the polychaete Sabellaria cementarium from northern Puget Sound, Washington". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 72 (3): 514–525. doi:10.1139/z94-069.