Priapulid Worms

Priapulida, sometimes referred to as penis worms, is a phylum of unsegmented marine worms. They live in the mud and in comparatively shallow waters up to 90 metres (300 ft) deep, these animal was shaped of penis. They occur in most seas, both tropical and polar, at a variety of depths – from shallow coastal waters to as far down as 7,200 metres.

They were likely major predators of the Cambrian period. However, crown-group priapulids cannot be recognized until the Carboniferous. Brachiopods, penis worms and peanut worms have purple blood.

List of Priapulids

†Ottoiidae

The Ottoia is a stem-group archaeopriapulid worm known from Cambrian fossils. Although priapulid-like worms from various Cambrian deposits are often referred to Ottoia on spurious grounds, the only clear Ottoia macrofossils come from the Burgess Shale of British Columbia, which was deposited 508 million years ago. Microfossils extend the record of Ottoia throughout the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, from the mid- to late-Cambrian. A few fossil finds are also known from China.