A polychaete worm (Heteromastus filiformis)

Distribution data supplied by the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS). To interrogate UK data visit the NBN Atlas.Map Help

Summary

Description

Long, thin body, up to 1.8 cm long and 1 mm wide. The anterior of the worm is red and the posterior is reddish to green in colour. The prostomium is small, conical, and lacks appendages, but can retract into the first segment (peristomium). It features two ciliated pits (nuchal organs). The peristomium bears two rings (biannulate) and lacks bristles. Young specimens may have small eyes. The thorax is made up of 11 segments with bristles. The next four to five segments have short, stout capillary bristles, while the last six thoracic segments feature hooked bristles on both the top and bottom. The abdominal section starts long but gets shorter and rounded (‘bell shaped’) with swollen parapodial ridges at the posterior end. The gills are simple and occur from about the 80th segment. One anal cirrus is present on the last segment (pygidium). 

Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland

Widespread in scattered locations across Britain and Ireland.

Global distribution

Widespread in northern Europe, northern Norway, the Arctic Ocean, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea. Fewer records in the Baltic Sea. Also recorded along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the USA, western Canada, and Alaska. Recorded in the Persian Gulf, the Yellow Sea, the Visayan Sea, the Bay of Bengal, Australia, New Zealand, and Samoa. Scattered records from South America off the coast of Brazil.

Habitat

Lives in branching burrows in muddy substrata, supported by mucus, and produces wormcasts on the surface. It ranges from the upper eulittoral zone to the lower abyssal depths.

Depth range

0-500 m (occasionally up to 2000 m)

Identifying features

  • The anterior body is red; the posterior body is yellowish or reddish green.
  • Long thin cylindrical body
  • Eleven segments with chaetae

     

Additional information

-none-

Listed by

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Further information sources

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Bibliography

  1. De Kluijver, M., Ingalsuo, S., Van Nieuwenhuijzen, A. & Van Zanten, H.V., 2024. Macrobenthos of the North Sea. Vol. II - Keys to Polychaeta. Leiden, Netherlands: Linnaeus NG - Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Accessed [2024-10-23]. Available from https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/introduction/topic.php?id=3330&epi=93

  2. Fauchald, K., 1977. The polychaete worms. Definitions and keys to the orders, families and genera. USA: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

  3. Fauvel, P., 1927. Polychètea sédentaires. In Faune de France, 16, 494 pp. Paris: P. Lechevalier.

  4. Hayward, P.J. & Ryland, J.S. (ed.) 2017. Handbook of the marine fauna of North-West Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  5. Stachowitsch, M., 1992. The invertebrates: an illustrated glossary. USA: Wiley-Liss.

Datasets

  1. NBN (National Biodiversity Network) Atlas. Available from: https://www.nbnatlas.org.

  2. OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System),  2024. Global map of species distribution using gridded data. Available from: Ocean Biogeographic Information System. www.iobis.org. Accessed: 2024-12-27

Citation

This review can be cited as:

Maleed, M., 2024. Heteromastus filiformis A polychaete worm. In Tyler-Walters H. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Reviews, [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 27-12-2024]. Available from: https://marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/2370

Last Updated: 22/10/2024