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Christmas Tree Worm

Spirobranchus giganteus

Description:

The worms's most distinct features are the two "crowns" that are shaped like Christmas-trees. These "crowns" are actually highly modified prostomial palps which are specialized mouth appendages of the worm. Each spiral is composed of feather-like tentacles called radioles, which are heavily ciliated this allows any prey that are trapped in them to be transported straight towards the worm's mouth!

Habitat:

Christmas-tree worms are widely distributed throughout the world's tropical oceans. They have been known to occur from the Caribbean to the Indo-Pacific.

Notes:

Spotted on a dive trip of an Island in Malaysia.

No species ID suggestions

2 Comments

SeanWeekly
SeanWeekly a year ago

Ha ha Palaimon, all they are missing is a star on the top and presents underneath. :D

Palaimon
Palaimon a year ago

Nice picture!!
This year i like to have a xmastree like this :-)

Malaysia

Lat: 2.44, Long: 104.52

Spotted on Oct 25, 2011
Submitted on Oct 25, 2011

Spotted for mission

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