Phragmatopoma californica, commonly known as the sandcastle worm, the honeycomb worm[1] or the honeycomb tube worm,[2] is a reef-forming marine polychaeteworm 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 (3.0in).[3] The worm inhabits the Californian coast, from Sonoma County to northern Baja California.[4]
Sandcastle worms live in colonies, building tube reefs somewhat similar to sandcastles (hence the name), which are often seen on rocky beaches at medium and low tide. The sandcastles, which have a honeycomb-like outward appearance, can cover an area of up to 2 meters (6.6ft) on a side.[3] They may share areas with mussel beds and are found in any place that provides some shelter, such as rock faces, overhanging ledges and concave shorelines.[4]
The worms remain in their tubes and are almost never seen. At low tide, when above the water, they close the entrance to their tubes with a shield-like operculum made of dark setae. When submerged, they extend their tentacles out of the tube to catch food particles and sand grains. The grains are sorted, with the best ones used to keep the tube in repair,[3] and the rest ejected. The colonies are formed by the gregarious settlement of larvae, which require contact with an existing colony to metamorphose into adult worms.[4] Gregarious settlement of this species has been linked to specific free fatty acids associated with the tubes of adult worms.[5] On rocky beaches, settlement is dependent on larval behavior in the water column and perception of chemical cues when the larvae contact the tubes.[6]
Sandcastle worms should not be confused with the similar, but more northern Sabellaria cementarium which are found from Alaska to southern California and have an amber-colored operculum.[4] Unlike P. californica, S. cementarium rarely forms colonies, does not settle gregariously, and its larvae do not respond to free fatty acids.[7]
Underwater glue
Colony underwaterColony exposed by low tide
In 2004, researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) discovered that the glue used by the Phragmatopoma worm to build its protecting tube was made of specific proteins with opposite charges.[8] Those proteins are called polyphenolic proteins[9] that are used as bioadhesives.[10] They succeeded in obtaining the sequence of these adhesive proteins.[11] Inspired by these results University of Utah researchers reported in 2009 that they succeeded in duplicating the glue that the worms secrete and use to stick sand grains together underwater.[12] The typical amount of glue that the worm produces at once is approximately 100 picoliters, requiring 50 million to fill a teaspoon.[13]
They believe the glue to have applications as a biocompatiblemedical adhesive, for instance to repair shattered bones.[14] If found to be practicable, the synthetic glue, which is based on complex coacervates,[15] could be used to fix small bone fragments, instead of metal stabilizer devices such as pins and screws, which are challenging to use.[14] Other potential medical applications include sealing skin cuts, repair of cranio-facial bones, and corneal incisions.[13]
Obstacles include ensuring that the bond is to the substrate rather than the surface layer of the water. Another is that in order to cure, glues need to dry out. Most either do not cure underwater or set too quickly.[13]
The proteins that are the basis of its adhesive contain side chains of phosphate and amine groups, which are well-known adhesion promoters which probably helps wet the surface. The glue has two parts, with different proteins and side groups in each. The two are made separately in a gland, like an epoxy, and mix as they are secreted.[16][17] The glue sets in about 30 seconds, probably triggered by the large difference in acidity between the acidic glue and seawater.[18] Curing takes about six hours, as the proteins cross-link, reaching the consistency of shoeleather.[13]
Existing medical superglues are highly immunogenic. Initial experiments with the new synthetic on animals show no immune response. But inside the body, the glue needs to eventually degrade, ideally at roughly the same rate as the bone or tissue regrows. Degradable versions therefore include proteins that are broken down by specialized cells.[13]
↑ Hinton, Sam (1987). Seashore life of southern California: an introduction to the animal life of California beaches south of Santa Barbara. California natural history guides. Vol.26. University of California Press. p.48. ISBN978-0-520-05924-5.
↑ Pawlik, J. R. (1986). "Chemical induction of larval settlement and metamorphosis in the reef-building tube worm Phragmatopoma californica (Sabellariidae: Polychaeta)". Marine Biology. 91: 59–68. doi:10.1007/BF00397571. S2CID87087873.
↑ Pawlik, JR; Chia, F-S (1991). "Larval settlement of Sabellaria cementarium Moore, and comparisons with other species of sabellariid polychaetes". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 69 (3): 765–770. doi:10.1139/z91-110.
↑ Jensen, Rebecca A.; Morse, Daniel E. (1988). "The bioadhesive of Phragmatopoma californica tubes: a silk-like cement containing L-DOPA". Journal of Comparative Physiology B. 158 (3): 317–24. doi:10.1007/BF00695330. S2CID25457825.
↑ Rzepecki, L. M.; Chin, S. S.; Waite, J. H.; Lavin, M. F. (1991). "Molecular diversity of marine glues: Polyphenolic proteins from five mussel species". Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology. 1 (1): 78–88. PMID1845474.
Cyanoacrylates are a family of strong fast-acting adhesives with industrial, medical, and household uses. They are derived from ethyl cyanoacrylate and related esters. The cyanoacrylate group in the monomer rapidly polymerizes in the presence of water to form long, strong chains. They have some minor toxicity.
Polychaeta is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes. Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. More than 10,000 species are described in this class. Common representatives include the lugworm and the sandworm or clam worm Alitta.
Coacervate is an aqueous phase rich in macromolecules such as synthetic polymers, proteins or nucleic acids. It forms through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), leading to a dense phase in thermodynamic equilibrium with a dilute phase. The dispersed droplets of dense phase are also called coacervates, micro-coacervates or coacervate droplets.These structures draw a lot of interest because they form spontaneously from aqueous mixtures and provide stable compartmentalization without the need of a membrane.
Spirobranchus giganteus, commonly known as the Christmas tree worm, is a tube-building polychaete worm belonging to the family Serpulidae.
Marine larval ecology is the study of the factors influencing dispersing larvae, which many marine invertebrates and fishes have. Marine animals with a larva typically release many larvae into the water column, where the larvae develop before metamorphosing into adults.
Bioadhesives are natural polymeric materials that act as adhesives. The term is sometimes used more loosely to describe a glue formed synthetically from biological monomers such as sugars, or to mean a synthetic material designed to adhere to biological tissue.
The Chaetopteridae are a family of marine filter-feeding polychaete worms that live in vertical or U-shaped tubes in tunnels buried in the sedimentary or hard substrate of marine environments. The worms are highly adapted to the hard tube they secrete. Inside the tube the animal is segmented and regionally specialized, with highly modified appendages on different segments for cutting the tunnel, feeding, or creating suction for the flow of water through the tube home. The modified segments for feeding are on the 12th segment from the head for members of this family.
Schizobranchia insignis is a marine feather duster worm. It may be commonly known as the split-branch feather duster, split-plume feather duster, and the feather duster worm. It may be found from Alaska to Central California, living on pilings and rocks, intertidal to 46 m. It is particularly abundant on the underside of wharves in Puget Sound, Washington, and on wharves at Boston Harbor marina.
Sabellaria alveolata,, is a reef-forming polychaete. It is distributed around the Mediterranean Sea, and from the north Atlantic Ocean to south Morocco. It is also found in the British Isles at its northern limit in the northeast Atlantic. Its common name is derived from the honeycomb-like pattern it creates when building its tube reefs.
Honeycomb tube worm may refer to:
P. californica may refer to:
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.
Pandalus montagui is a species of cold-water shrimp in the family Pandalidae. It is the type species of the genus Pandalus and is variously known as the pink shrimp, Aesop shrimp and Aesop prawn.
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.
Hydrophobic light-activated adhesive (HLAA) is a type of glue that sets in seconds, but only after exposure to ultraviolet light. One biocompatible, biodegradable HLAA is under consideration for use in human tissue repair as a replacement for sutures, staples and other approaches.
Caddisfly silk is silk that is secreted by the silk glands of the caddisfly (Trichoptera), similar to Lepidoptera silkworms. The larvae use silk to hunt and defend themselves. The silk's underwater binding properties are a subject of ongoing scientific research.
Jonathan Wilker is an American scientist, engineer, and educator who focuses on marine biological adhesives for use in surgery and other applications. His work has been profiled by The New York Times, National Public Radio, Popular Science, and his research findings appear in a number of scientific journals.
Microbial symbiosis in marine animals was not discovered until 1981. In the time following, symbiotic relationships between marine invertebrates and chemoautotrophic bacteria have been found in a variety of ecosystems, ranging from shallow coastal waters to deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Symbiosis is a way for marine organisms to find creative ways to survive in a very dynamic environment. They are different in relation to how dependent the organisms are on each other or how they are associated. It is also considered a selective force behind evolution in some scientific aspects. The symbiotic relationships of organisms has the ability to change behavior, morphology and metabolic pathways. With increased recognition and research, new terminology also arises, such as holobiont, which the relationship between a host and its symbionts as one grouping. Many scientists will look at the hologenome, which is the combined genetic information of the host and its symbionts. These terms are more commonly used to describe microbial symbionts.
Joseph Richard Pawlik is a marine biologist. He is the Frank Hawkins Kenan Distinguished Professor of Marine Biology in the Department of Biology and Marine Biology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He is best known for studies of sponges on Caribbean coral reefs that reveal ecological principles such as resource trade-offs, trophic cascades and indirect effects.
Mussel foot proteins (MFP) are proteins secreted by mussels that enable them to securely anchor themselves to other mussels and other underwater structures. The proteins form sticky byssal holdfast fibers (BHF). Species from several families of clams have a byssus, including pen shells (Pinnidae), true mussels (Mytilidae), and Dreissenidae.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
