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Eudistylia vancouveri

(Feather Duster Worm)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Feather Duster Worm, Northern Feather Duster Worm, Parchment Tube Worm, Plume Worm

Description

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Physical Description

Species Eudistylia vancouveri

As with all sabellids, this species lives in a soft, leathery, parchmentlike, or mucus tube which it secretes. Few if any of the body segments are longer than wide when contracted . Their dorsal surface is not covered by paleae, elytra, or felt. The peristomium has several featherlike radioles that are closely associated with the mouth and used for feeding, forming a feather-duster like structure. It does not close its tube with an operculum. Eudistylia vancouveri is a common, large species. Most of the radioles are unbranched, but a few are branched. They have no conspicuous , curled ocelli on the radioles. The first 5 or 6 thoracic neuropodia have avicular uncini and pickaxe-shaped setae. The lobes from which the radioles arise are spirally coiled , and the dorsal edges of the lobes from which the radioles originate do not have with a cleft . The notopodia of the first few abdominal segments are shorter than the tori of the posterior thoracic segments. The radioles are banded green and purple or maroon. Up to 25 cm long and 1.2 cm wide, in a tube up to about 45 cm long. Plume of radioles expands to about 5 cm diameter. Note : Sabellids such as this species have a groove which carries fecal wastes from the anus to the mouth of the tube. On the posterior part of the body this groove is ventral, but at the anterior end it becomes dorsal. This makes it easy to recognize the dorsal side.[1]

Habitat

Often in large clusters attached to crevices of boulders and bedrock , or on floats or pilings; and on vertical rock faces and surge channels in heavy surf .[1]

Biology

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Behavior

Although they do not have large ocelli as found in some other plumeworms, this species is highly light sensitive and will withdraw quickly into the tube if a shadow passes over it. Often anemones are found feeding near the top of the tube. This species may hybridize with Eudistylia polymorpha. Its blood contains chlorocruorin instead of hemoglobin . They can regenerate their radioles if a predator nips them off.[1]

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 24-Jun-1996

Similar Species

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In Eudistylia catharinae the notopodia of the first few abdominal segments are shorter than the tori of the posterior thoracic segments. In Eudistylia polymorpha the dorsal edges of both lobes from which the radioles originate have a cleft; plus its prostomial cirri are reddigh borwn to maroon and tipped with orange. Other species also do not have the distinctive green and maroon bands on their radioles. (Ref. 109953)

Members of the genus Eudistylia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 1 species and subspecies in this genus:

E. vancouveri (Feather Duster Worm)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 14, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Cowles, Dave. Key to Invertebrates Found At or Near The Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory (a campus of Walla Walla University) Fidalgo Island, Anacortes, WA May 2009. [back]
Last Revised: 7/20/2012