Merry Christmas!

Today I will be talking about the Christmas Tree Worm! 🎄 They are always in the holiday spirit as their body shape resembles that of a Christmas tree, but not all are green! They are polychaete (bristle) worms that live in tubes. Their tubes are burrowed into stony corals in which they live and where most of their body exists. They are sedentary animals that live in the same place their entire life. To reproduce, males and females will release sperm and eggs into the water where they fertilize and fall back to a new place on the coral to grow and live. The part of their body we see are the extended plumes called radioles which are used for respiration and filter feeding on phytoplankton and food particles passing by. These twin spiraled plumes are all apart of one worm. 🌀 If they feel threatened, they will quickly retreat into their tubes for protection! Christmas tree worms are found in tropical waters throughout the world. Although they vary dramatically in color, these all belong to one species (Spirobranchus giganteus). Ironic species naming as these animals only grow to be about 1.5 inches long. There are no apparent threats to these animals other than being taken by coral collectors, predation, and ocean acidification. Not to mention the threats already being posed to the coral reefs in which they live. They use nutrients from the seawater to build their tubes which are made of calcium carbonate. All filter feeders play an important role in a coral reef ecosystem by keeping the water clear so sunlight can pass through for photosynthetic organisms. ☀️ #merrychristmas

Originally posted on 23 December 2018

(not my pictures, but I did edit the first one)