Spirobranchus cariniferus: taxon details and analytics
- Domain
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Annelida
- Class
- Polychaeta
- Order
- Sabellida
- Family
- Serpulidae
- Genus
- Spirobranchus
- Species
- Spirobranchus cariniferus
- Scientific Name
- Spirobranchus cariniferus
Summary description from Wikipedia:
Spirobranchus cariniferus
Spirobranchus cariniferus, commonly known as the blue tubeworm or spiny tubeworm, or by its Māori name toke pā, is a species of tube-building polychaete worm endemic to New Zealand.
This species forms patchy, belt-like colonies of hard, white, triangular tubes, each containing a bright blue worm. These are cemented to the shaded side of rocks in the lower to mid-tidal zone. It may also inhabit hard objects such as dead shells and small stones. When submerged, it puts out a fan of dark-blue tentacles to feed, which it retracts during low tide.
Individuals living in Dunedin's Otago Harbour are the only polychaetes known to host gregarine parasites. Little is known about their impact on the worms, but it is likely to be a negative one.
...Spirobranchus cariniferus in languages:
- English
- Blue Tube Worm
Images from inaturalist.org observations:
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Parent Taxon
Sibling Taxa
- Spirobranchus aloni
- Spirobranchus cariniferus
- Spirobranchus corniculatus
- Spirobranchus gardineri
- Spirobranchus giganteus
- Spirobranchus incrassatus
- Spirobranchus kraussii
- Spirobranchus lamarcki
- Spirobranchus latiscapus
- Spirobranchus minutus
- Spirobranchus polytrema
- Spirobranchus sinuspersicus
- Spirobranchus spinosus
- Spirobranchus taeniatus
- Spirobranchus tetraceros
- Spirobranchus triqueter


















































































































