Serpula vermicularis
Encyclopedia
Serpula vermicularis, known by common name
s including the calcareous tubeworm, fan worm, plume worm or red tube worm, is a species
of segmented marine polychaete
worm in the family
Serpulidae
. It is the type species
of the genus
Serpula
and was first described by Linnaeus in 1767. It lives in a tube into which it can retract.
and covered with fine cilia. They are commonly red, orange or pink and are usually banded with white. There is a funnel-shaped lid or operculum
which covers the entrance to the tube when the animal retracts inside. This lid has up to 160 fine creases around its edge and is symmetrical and usually red. It is sometimes divided into two. The yellow coloured body has 7 thoracic segments and up to 190 abdominal segments which are protected by the tube. There are at least 4 segments with seta
e (bristles) in the thoracic region.
in distribution. As well as being found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, it is found on the European seaboard of the Atlantic Ocean but not on the North American seaboard. It occurs in the intertidal zone and at depths down to 100 metres (328.1 ft).
, boulders and man-made structures. Around the United Kingdom, juveniles were found to be plentiful growing on the bryozoa
n, Flustra foliacea
. Large colonies sometimes form but these are seldom on rocks. Larvae may settle on the tubes of other worms and their subsequent development can form reefs. These reefs are very fragile and often break up. This is sometimes due to the activity of certain boring sponges such as Cliona celata
(the "red boring sponge").
and aragonite
. Calcium
for its manufacture is stored in two white sacs on the ventral side of the peristomium. The tube is fabricated by the glandular ventral shields on the other thoracic segments where calcium is mixed with an organic secretion to make a paste. This is formed into shape by a collar found just behind the first segment, the prostomium
.
Serpula vermicularis is a filter feeder
and extends its radioles to catch phytoplankton
and detritus
. The radioles also act as gills. Blood is pumped in and out of these with the flow direction alternating in a single set of vessels. The blood is then pumped through a ventral blood vessel to the tip of the abdomen before returning through a sinus adjoining the gut.
The blood of Serpula vermicularis contains the oxygen-binding pigment chlorocruorin
. As well as transporting oxygen to the tissues, this binds carbon monoxide
much more efficiently than does human haemoglobin. This may be the reason why the worm may settle and grow on brown seaweeds such as Fucus
but avoids giant kelp, Nereocystis
. The latter uses carbon monoxide to inflate its pneumocysts and this would be toxic to the worm.
s, ascidians
, bryozoa
ns, the worm Pomatoceros triqueter
, the sea anemone Metridium senile
and bivalves such as Chlamys spp., Modiolus modiolus
and Aequipecten opercularis
. Macrofauna include crabs such as Cancer pagurus, the sea urchins Echinus esculentus and Psammechinus miliaris
, the brittle star Ophiothrix fragilis
, the starfish Asterias rubens and the whelk Buccinum undatum
. Red algae
grow on the reef in shallow water. The tunicate
Pyura microcosmus occurs on these reefs but is seldom seen in other habitats. A large number of cryptic
species of microfauna
shelter among the tubes.
Predators
of the worm include sea urchin
s, starfish and the wrasse
Crenilabrus melops and Ctenolabrus rupestris.
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
s including the calcareous tubeworm, fan worm, plume worm or red tube worm, is a species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of segmented marine polychaete
Polychaete
The Polychaeta or polychaetes are a class of annelid worms, generally marine. Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. Indeed, polychaetes are sometimes referred to as bristle worms. More than 10,000...
worm in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Serpulidae
Serpulidae
Serpulidae is a family of sessile, tube-building annelid worms in the class Polychaeta. The members of this family differ from the sabellid tube worms in that they have a specialized operculum that blocks the entrance of their tubes when they withdraw into the tubes. In addition, serpulids secrete...
. It is the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
of the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Serpula
Serpula
Serpula is a genus of sessile, marine annelid tube worms that belongs to the Serpulidae family...
and was first described by Linnaeus in 1767. It lives in a tube into which it can retract.
Description
Serpula vermicularis lives in a calcareous tube which is attached to a rock, boulder or other hard surface. The tube is often curved but is not tightly coiled as in some other related species. It can grow to a length of 20 centimetres (7.9 in) but is usually shorter than this. The anterior part of the worm protrudes from the tube and has a plume of about 40 feather-like radioles projecting from the second segment, or peristomium, which also houses the two eyes and the mouth. The radioles are bi-pinnatePinnate
Pinnate is a term used to describe feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis in plant or animal structures, and comes from the Latin word pinna meaning "feather", "wing", or "fin". A similar term is pectinate, which refers to a comb-like arrangement of parts...
and covered with fine cilia. They are commonly red, orange or pink and are usually banded with white. There is a funnel-shaped lid or operculum
Operculum
Operculum may refer to:*Operculum , a stiff structure resembling a lid or a small door that opens and closes**Operculum , a lid on the shell of some gastropods**Operculum , a lid on the orifice of some bryozoans...
which covers the entrance to the tube when the animal retracts inside. This lid has up to 160 fine creases around its edge and is symmetrical and usually red. It is sometimes divided into two. The yellow coloured body has 7 thoracic segments and up to 190 abdominal segments which are protected by the tube. There are at least 4 segments with seta
Seta
Seta is a biological term derived from the Latin word for "bristle". It refers to a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms.-Animal setae:In zoology, most "setae" occur in invertebrates....
e (bristles) in the thoracic region.
Distribution
Serpula vermicularis is cosmopolitanCosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a taxon is said to have a cosmopolitan distribution if its range extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. For instance, the killer whale has a cosmopolitan distribution, extending over most of the world's oceans. Other examples include humans, the lichen...
in distribution. As well as being found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, it is found on the European seaboard of the Atlantic Ocean but not on the North American seaboard. It occurs in the intertidal zone and at depths down to 100 metres (328.1 ft).
Habitat
Serpula vermicularis grows on hard substrates. It favours shells of bivalvesBivalvia
Bivalvia is a taxonomic class of marine and freshwater molluscs. This class includes clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, and many other families of molluscs that have two hinged shells...
, boulders and man-made structures. Around the United Kingdom, juveniles were found to be plentiful growing on the bryozoa
Bryozoa
The Bryozoa, also known as Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals, are a phylum of aquatic invertebrate animals. Typically about long, they are filter feeders that sieve food particles out of the water using a retractable lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles lined with cilia...
n, Flustra foliacea
Flustra foliacea
Flustra foliacea is a species of bryozoan found in the northern Atlantic Ocean. It is a colonial animal that is frequently mistaken for a seaweed. Colonies begin as encrusting mats, and only produce loose fronds after their first year of growth. They may reach long, and smell like lemons...
. Large colonies sometimes form but these are seldom on rocks. Larvae may settle on the tubes of other worms and their subsequent development can form reefs. These reefs are very fragile and often break up. This is sometimes due to the activity of certain boring sponges such as Cliona celata
Cliona celata
Cliona celata, occasionally called the Red Boring Sponge, is a species of demosponge belonging the family Clionaidae. It is found worldwide. This sponge creates round holes up to 5 cm in diameter in limestone or the shells of molluscs, especially oysters...
(the "red boring sponge").
Biology
The tube of Serpula vermicularis is made from calciteCalcite
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...
and aragonite
Aragonite
Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the two common, naturally occurring, crystal forms of calcium carbonate, CaCO3...
. Calcium
Calcium
Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
for its manufacture is stored in two white sacs on the ventral side of the peristomium. The tube is fabricated by the glandular ventral shields on the other thoracic segments where calcium is mixed with an organic secretion to make a paste. This is formed into shape by a collar found just behind the first segment, the prostomium
Prostomium
Prostomium is the first body segment in annelid worms. It is in front of the mouth, being usually a small shelf- or lip-like extension over the dorsal side of the mouth. It sometimes bears antennae and eyes. It often functions like a kind of overlip when the animal is feeding...
.
Serpula vermicularis is a filter feeder
Filter feeder
Filter feeders are animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feeding are clams, krill, sponges, baleen whales, and many fish and some sharks. Some birds,...
and extends its radioles to catch phytoplankton
Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton are the autotrophic component of the plankton community. The name comes from the Greek words φυτόν , meaning "plant", and πλαγκτός , meaning "wanderer" or "drifter". Most phytoplankton are too small to be individually seen with the unaided eye...
and detritus
Detritus
Detritus is a biological term used to describe dead or waste organic material.Detritus may also refer to:* Detritus , a geological term used to describe the particles of rock produced by weathering...
. The radioles also act as gills. Blood is pumped in and out of these with the flow direction alternating in a single set of vessels. The blood is then pumped through a ventral blood vessel to the tip of the abdomen before returning through a sinus adjoining the gut.
The blood of Serpula vermicularis contains the oxygen-binding pigment chlorocruorin
Chlorocruorin
Chlorocruorin is an oxygen-binding hemeprotein present in the blood plasma of many annelids, particularly certain marine polychaetes. Its affinity for oxygen is weaker than that of most hemoglobins...
. As well as transporting oxygen to the tissues, this binds carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide , also called carbonous oxide, is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air. It is highly toxic to humans and animals in higher quantities, although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is thought to have some normal...
much more efficiently than does human haemoglobin. This may be the reason why the worm may settle and grow on brown seaweeds such as Fucus
Fucus
Fucus is a genus of brown algae found in the intertidal zones of rocky seashores almost throughout the world.-Description and life cycle:...
but avoids giant kelp, Nereocystis
Nereocystis
Nereocystis is a genus of kelp. It forms thick beds on rocks, and is an important part of kelp forests. There is only one species, Nereocystis luetkeana. It can grow to a maximum of 74 meters...
. The latter uses carbon monoxide to inflate its pneumocysts and this would be toxic to the worm.
Life cycle
In the United Kingdom, spawning takes place between June and September. The larvae form part of the plankton for up to two months before settling on the seabed. Growth is fairly rapid with tubes extending by 1cm (0.4in) in a month. The worms become mature in about 10 months and may live for several years.Ecology
Cold water reefs built up by Serpula vermicularis take many years to develop and provide a hard substrate which other organisms utilise. The reefs around the United Kingdom support a diverse community of sessile invertebrates include sponges, hydroidHydroid
-Marine biology:Hydroids are a life stage for most animals of class Hydrozoa, small predators related to jellyfish.-Botany:In mosses, hydroids form the innermost layer of the stem of long, colourless, thin walled cells of small diameter.The cells are dead and lack protoplasm.They function as water...
s, ascidians
Ascidiacea
Ascidiacea is a class in the Tunicata subphylum of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders. Ascidians are characterized by a tough outer "tunic" made of the polysaccharide tunicin, as compared to other tunicates which are less rigid.Ascidians are found all over the world, usually in shallow...
, bryozoa
Bryozoa
The Bryozoa, also known as Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals, are a phylum of aquatic invertebrate animals. Typically about long, they are filter feeders that sieve food particles out of the water using a retractable lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles lined with cilia...
ns, the worm Pomatoceros triqueter
Pomatoceros triqueter
Pomatoceros triqueter is a species of tube-building annelid worm in the class Polychaeta. It is common on the north eastern coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea....
, the sea anemone Metridium senile
Metridium senile
Metridium senile, common name the plumose anemone or frilled anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Metridiidae. It is found in the seas off northwest Europe and the east and west coasts of North America.-Description:...
and bivalves such as Chlamys spp., Modiolus modiolus
Modiolus modiolus
Modiolus modiolus, common name northern horsemussel, is a species of marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mytilidae.-Description:...
and Aequipecten opercularis
Queen scallop
The Queen Scallop, scientific name Aequipecten opercularis, is a medium-sized species of scallop, an edible marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pectinidae, the scallops.-Description:...
. Macrofauna include crabs such as Cancer pagurus, the sea urchins Echinus esculentus and Psammechinus miliaris
Psammechinus miliaris
Psammechinus miliaris is a species of sea urchin in the family Parechinidae. It is sometimes known as the green sea urchin or shore sea urchin. It is found in shallow areas of the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea.-Description:...
, the brittle star Ophiothrix fragilis
Ophiothrix fragilis
Ophiothrix fragilis is a species of brittle star in the order Ophiurida. It is found around the coasts of northwestern Europe and is known in Britain as the common brittle star.-Description:...
, the starfish Asterias rubens and the whelk Buccinum undatum
Buccinum undatum
Buccinum undatum, known as the common whelk, is a large edible marine gastropod in the family Buccinidae, the "true whelks".-Distribution:...
. Red algae
Red algae
The red algae are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae, and also one of the largest, with about 5,000–6,000 species of mostly multicellular, marine algae, including many notable seaweeds...
grow on the reef in shallow water. The tunicate
Tunicate
Tunicates, also known as urochordates, are members of the subphylum Tunicata, previously known as Urochordata, a group of underwater saclike filter feeders with incurrent and excurrent siphons that is classified within the phylum Chordata. While most tunicates live on the ocean floor, others such...
Pyura microcosmus occurs on these reefs but is seldom seen in other habitats. A large number of cryptic
Crypsis
In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an organism to avoid observation or detection by other organisms. It may be either a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation, and methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle, transparency, and mimicry...
species of microfauna
Microfauna
Microfauna refers to microscopic organisms that exhibit animal-like qualities. Microfauna are represented in the animal kingdom and the protist kingdom...
shelter among the tubes.
Predators
Predation
In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey . Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of its prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption...
of the worm include sea urchin
Sea urchin
Sea urchins or urchins are small, spiny, globular animals which, with their close kin, such as sand dollars, constitute the class Echinoidea of the echinoderm phylum. They inhabit all oceans. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from across. Common colors include black and dull...
s, starfish and the wrasse
Wrasse
The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine fish, many of which are brightly colored. The family is large and diverse, with over 600 species in 82 genera, which are divided into nine subgroups or tribes....
Crenilabrus melops and Ctenolabrus rupestris.