| Phyllodoce maculata | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Clade: | Pleistoannelida |
| Subclass: | Errantia |
| Order: | Phyllodocida |
| Family: | Phyllodocidae |
| Genus: | Phyllodoce |
| Species: | P. maculata |
| Binomial name | |
| Phyllodoce maculata | |
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.
Phyllodoce maculata is an elongated slender worm, tapering slightly towards the posterior. [2] The prostomium (head) bears a pair of antennae, a pair of eyes, two small palps and a large eversible proboscis. The first few body segments bear four pairs of long, tentacular cirri. Other body segments bear parapodia with flattened cirri, the dorsal ones being heart-shaped and conspicuous. [3] The prostomium, the first body segment (which cannot be seen from above) and the second segment are colourless, the third and fourth segments are dark, and the fifth and remaining segments have dark spots centred on the overlap of the segments, as well as some dark colour at the side of the segments. The posterior of the prostomium has some yellow colouring, and there are yellow spots between the dark spots on the dorsal surface of the body. This worm can have as many as 250 segments and be up to 100 mm (4 in) long. [2]
This worm can be confused with other species, particularly the closely related Phyllodoce mucosa , so its precise range is unclear; it is present in the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans, the Skagerrak and Kattegat, the western Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the English Channel. Its depth range is from the intertidal zone down to about 400 m (1,300 ft), and it is found on sand, muddy-sand, shelly gravel and rock bottoms. [2]
Phyllodoce maculata is a predator and scavenger, feeding on invertebrate prey and the bodies of small dead animals. During breeding, several males may sometimes be seen swarming around a female on the sediment surface, and the greenish, gelatinous egg masses produced are attached to stones or other underwater objects. [3]
Phyllodocida is an order of polychaete worms in the subclass Aciculata. These worms are mostly marine, though some are found in brackish water. Most are active benthic creatures, moving over the surface or burrowing in sediments, or living in cracks and crevices in bedrock. A few construct tubes in which they live and some are pelagic, swimming through the water column. There are estimated to be more than 4,600 accepted species in the order.
Haplosyllis spongicola, the sponge worm, is a species of polychaete worm in the family Syllidae. It was previously classified as Syllis spongicola and is part of a species complex of closely related species that are difficult to distinguish morphologically and where the demarcation between them is unclear. It is found in shallow temperate, subtropical and tropical seas worldwide, wherever its host sponges are found.
Eulalia viridis is a species of bright-green polychaete worm in the family Phyllodocidae. It can range from 5 to 15 cm in length and is usually found in shallow north Atlantic water under rocks or in mussel beds.
Sphaerosyllis bardukaciculata is a species belonging to the phylum Annelida, a group known as the segmented worms. Sphaerosyllis bardukaciculatan is similar to Sphaerosyllis aciculata from Florida; its chaetae are almost identical; the former, however, differs by having longer antennae and anal cirri, as well as parapodial glands with granular material. The animal's name is derived from the Aboriginal word barduk, meaning "near", alluding to the aforementioned likeness with S. aciculata.
Sphaerosyllis voluntariorum is a species belonging to the phylum Annelida, a group known as the segmented worms. This species is closely related to Sphaerosyllis bifurcata, Sphaerosyllis bifurcatoides and Sphaerosyllis rotundipapillata, all endemic species to Australia, characterized by having large dorsal papillae, sometimes trilobed, and with shafts of compound chaetae distally bifid. S. voluntariorum is more densely papillated on its anterior segments and has a long subdistal spine on the ventral simple chaetae. This species' name alludes to the volunteers of the Marine Invertebrate section of The Australian Museum, who sorted specimens of syllids that led to the description of this animal.
Sphaerosyllis georgeharrisoni is a species belonging to the phylum Annelida, a group known as the segmented worms. Sphaerosyllis georgeharrisoni is distinct by its large parapodial glands with hyaline material; by its small size; short proventricle; a median antenna that is inserted posteriorly to the lateral antennae; as well as long pygidial papillae. Juveniles of S. hirsuta are very similar to this species. Sphaerosyllis pygipapillata has all of its antennae aligned, a smooth dorsum, while its pygidial papillae are longer and slender. The species' name honours George Harrison, musician who died prior to the species' describing article's publication.
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.
Phyllodoce mucosa is a species of polychaete worm in the family Phyllodocidae. It is found intertidally in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, typically on sandy or muddy seabeds.
Phyllodocidae is a family of polychaete worms. Worms in this family live on the seabed and may burrow under the sediment.
Eulalia clavigera is a species of polychaete worm in the family Phyllodocidae, native to the coasts around Britain, through Western France, and to the Iberian Peninsula. It closely resembles Eulalia viridis, and there has been confusion in the past as to the identification of the two species.
Lepidonotus squamatus is a species of polychaete worm, commonly known as a "scale worm", in the family Polynoidae. This species occurs in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. It was first described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 as Aphrodita squamata but was later transferred to the genus Lepidonotus.
Leucia is a genus of marine polychaete worms belonging to the family Polynoidae, the scaleworms. Leucia contains 2 species, both found in the northern Atlantic Ocean. This genus is distinguished from the closely related genus Harmothoe by having sixteen pairs of elytra, as opposed to fifteen.
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.
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.
Australonoe willani is a species of marine annelids in the family Polynoidae, and the sole member of the genus Australonoe, known only from the south-east Indian Ocean at Rottnest Island, Western Australia.
Eunoe laetmogonensis is a scale worm known from the north-east Atlantic Ocean at depths of about 800 to 2300 m.
Polyeunoa is a genus of marine annelids in the family Polynoidae. The genus contains two species, one from the Indian Ocean and the other widespread in the south-west Atlantic ocean and the Southern Ocean.
Bathynoe is a genus of marine annelids in the family Polynoidae. The genus includes 6 species, 5 of which occur in the Pacific Ocean while one occurs in the Atlantic Ocean. Bathynoe species have been recorded from depths of about 500 – 3000 m.
Eucranta is a genus of marine annelids in the family Polynoidae. The genus includes 5 species which are globally distributed from depths of about 40 to 600 m, mostly from high latitudes in the northern and southern hemispheres.