Annelida

Class POLYCHAETA

Diopatra cuprea - Plumed Worm

Morphology: Tube-forming polychaete. Mouth of tube embedded with shells, algae, and marine debris. Tube can be up to 30 cm long. Worm is iridescent, with gills surrounding head, and five antennae.

Distribution: Massachusetts to Brazil

Habitat: Muddy bottoms; Found at Grice Beach.

Life History: Tube attachments provide habitat for variety of small invertebrates on which the worm feeds.

Reference: South Carolina Beachcomber’s Guide

Nereis sp. - Nereid Worm

Morphology: Polychaete worm. Morphology varies among species, but all have conspicuous heads with two short antennae, four eyes, two bulbous palps, and four pairs of long tentacular cirri. Distribution: Worldwide, especially North Sea, North Atlantic and Pacific Habitat: All benthic habitats except outer beaches. Life History: The most common species in the southeast (Nereis succinea) is a detritivore that the feeds primarily on surface detritus deposits. Uses large jaw on wide eversible pharynx for feeding, defense, and aggression. Synchronous spawning occurs when moonlight attracts heteronereids to the surface of the water. Reference: Seashore Animals of the Southeast

Nereis succina-Common Clam Worm

Morphology: Segmented worm with well developed head appendages and parapodia, the latter of which are smaller towards the head, becoming straplike towards the tail. Rarely longer than 125-150 mm.

Distribution: Range from the tropics north to Cape Cod.

Habitat: Exclusively estuarine species, only tolerating salinities of 9 ppt or less. Can be found in the upper intertidal/subtidal in shallow waters.

Life History: Gonochoristic individuals metamorphosize into heteronereids before swimming to the surface to spawn at the new moon between March and October. Females lay eggs and die, and males usually die after spawning as well.

Reference: Atlantic Seashore, Encyclopedia of Life

Notomastus lobatus

Morphology: Capitellid polychaete that can reach up to 10 cm and is soft bodied.

Distribution: Found in the North West Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

Habitat: Demersal, found at depths from 0-506 meters.

Life History: A head down, sediment deposit feeder that also lives in the sediment.

Reference: Encyclopedia of Life

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