#christmas-tree worms

[sea-stars2]

An amazing sea creature that I don't think you've heard of part 1:

This is called a Spirobranchus giganteus, more commonly known as "Christmas-tree Worms"! They can rarely live up to the age of 30, and they tend to live in tropical coral reefs!

#christmas-tree worms #sea animals #save the ocean #cool sea animals #cool sea creatures!

[amnhnyc]

Rockin’ around… the uh… what? Meet the Christmas tree worm (Spirobranchus giganteus). This “festive” marine worm lives on tropical coral reefs around the planet. Its name is derived from the spiny fir trees that are emblems of the holiday season. But at just 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) in size, you won’t find any decorations hanging from this species’ “branches.” While part of the worm is buried in the coral, its colorful appendages are used for breathing and for snatching plankton to eat. In ideal conditions, Christmas tree worms can live for up to 40 years!

Photo: John Turnbull, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, flickr

#science #nature #natural history #animal #animal facts #christmas #christmas tree #christmas tree worm #did you know #fact of the day #ocean life #coral reef

[cypherdecypher]

Animal of the Day!

Christmas Tree Worm (Spirobranchus giganteus)

(Photo from Oceana)

Conservation Status- Unlisted

Habitat- Indo-Pacific Ocean; Atlantic Ocean

Size (Weight/Length)- 38 mm

Diet- Zooplankton; Detritus; Phytoplankton

Cool Facts- Upon first glance, you might think that the Christmas tree worm is a plant rather than an animal. The majority of the worm is actually buried in coral. They then build a complex tube around their soft body that serves as the worm’s forever home. The Christmas tree worm releases a pair of ‘crowns’ that is part of their mouth, sort of like a tongue. The appendages can be used for catching prey along with circulating water through their gills. When their ‘crowns’ retreat fully into their mouth, sharp spines are extended to further protect the worm from harm.

Rating- 13/10 (Symbiotic relationship with coral is still being researched.)

#animal of the day #animals #worm #marine worm #marine creature #wednesday #august 30 #christmas tree worm #biology #science #conservation #the more you know

[leroibobo]

thazhathangady juma mosque in kottayam, kerala, india. like judaism and christianity, islam first reached present-day kerala via trade and migration from the middle east to the malabar coast from antiquity. the mosque dates back to the 9th-10th centuries.

#india #architecture #interior #worship #muslim #nmenam #abrahamic kerala #my posts #interesting how lotuses are in a lot of keralan jewish/christian/muslim art/architecture #reminds me of how pine trees wormed their way into nw european christmas

[marinememes]

Today is Wet Beast Wednesday CHRISTMAS!

Todays wet beast is: Christmas Tree Worm

Olive’s wet beast fact: the worms wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season!

Stay tuned for more Wet Beasts!

#Christmas tree worm #wet beast wednesday #merry christmas #christmas #marine biology #worms #aquarium #zoology #oceanposting #fishposting #sea creatures #sea life

[dougdimmadodo]

Caribbean Christmas Tree Worm (Spirobranchus giganteus)

Family: Serpulid Worm Family (Serpulidae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Unassessed

Found attached to coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea and Indo-Pacific Ocean regions, the Caribbean Christmas Tree Worm lives in a hard, rocky tube (made up of calcium carbonate particles that it has cemented together using an extremely thick mucus that it secretes from its body), with only a pair of colourful, frilly structures lined with small feeding tentacles that protrude from its head being exposed, resembling a tiny pair of colourful Christmas trees. These frilled structures are primarily used for feeding (with the tentacles that line them capturing plankton and tiny pieces of detritus from the water and passing them down to the worm’s mouth near the opening of the tube), but also allow the worm to breathe (with gasses being exchanged between the water surrounding them and the blood within them across their thin outer surface) and can function similarly to rudimentary eyes, with light-sensitive spots on their tentacles (as well as a second set of eye-like structures just above the mouth) detecting potential predators as they come near the worm. At the first sign of a predator the worm quickly pulls its feeding structures back into its tube and blocks the tube’s opening with the only other exposed part of its body, a spiny lid-like structure called an operculum, which is sufficient to keep out almost all threats and means that this species faces little predation despite being only around 3.8cm (1.5 inches) in length. Caribbean Christmas Tree Worms may live for over 30 years, and will live their entire adult lives without ever leaving their tube - they reproduce by releasing gametes into the water through the opening of their tube, and once these gametes fuse they rapidly develop into larval worms which will live as free-swimming plankton for 9-12 days before burrowing into a coral reef and beginning to construct a tube of their own. The feeding structures of different individuals of this species can vary dramatically in their colouration (with pink-on-white, white-on-blue, black-on-yellow, pure yellow and pure orange all being common), and on reefs where multiple worms have settled in close proximity to one another the multi-coloured “forests” that their feeding structures create can be quite beautiful.

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Animal Advent Calendar - Merry Christmas!

Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/49517-Spirobranchus-giganteus

More information on this species, and a look at what its body looks like inside the tube: https://www.howitworksdaily.com/meet-the-christmas-tree-worm/

#Merry Christmas! #Caribbean Christmas Tree Worm #Christmas Tree Worm #worm #worms #zoology #biology #Annelidology #marine biology #wildlife #marine wildlife #coral reef animals #marine animals #animal #animals #Christmas 2022

[flame-shadow]

WORM TIME!

WORM TIME!!! (images of the worms found below the poll)

WORM TIME!!!!!!!

#worm time #flame polls #id in alt #poll #animals #earthworm #planarian #flatworm #tapeworm #velvet worm #horsehair worm #bobbit worm #christmas tree worm #caecelian #legless burrowing lizard

[warmiesinaditch]

Merry Chirstmas little guys.

#worm on a string #christmas #christmas tree #it’s so tacky

[snototter]

Christmas tree worms (Spirobranchus giganteus) off the coast of the Galapagos Islands

by Water Planet

#christmas tree worm #bristleworms #marine worms #segmented worms #spirobranchus giganteus #spirobranchus #Serpulidae #Sabellida #Annelida #wildlife: galapagos islands #wildlife: south america

[the-book-ferret]

happy christmas, loves

#thebookferret #books #booklr #book worm #book nerd #book pets #book addict #book photography #bibliophile #ferret #ferrets of tumblr #pets of tumblr #wasabi #cozy #hygge #christmas #christmas tree #happy christmas

[natureisthegreatestartist]

What's this? A Christmas tree worm (Spirobranchus giganteus) which, despite its name, lives in the ocean, not in trees, and doesn't celebrate Christmas (as far as we know).

#Animals #animal humor #Christmas humour #bizarre animals #christmassy #under the sea #christmas tree worm

[linddzz]

I just fuccin love feather duster worms bro!!!!

#best lads #good worms #re a tag i saw: these ones are more specifically Christmas tree worms yes! #i sometimes sea feather duster used as either a catch all or just for the worms that have only one whorl #common names be like that

[i-am-worm]

Inktober 52 2023 - Week 50 - 'Forest'

A giant Christmas tree sea slug with a plethora of trees growing on it's back!

I had a ton of ideas for Christmas tree creatures and I might do one more before the year is out, but have some bonus ones I also did;

#inktober #inktober52 #monster #creature #forest #christmas #christmas tree #christmas creature #sea slug #worm #christmas tree sea slug #creature design #festive

[vintagewildlife]

Christmas tree worm (Spirobranchus giganteus) By: R. Chesher From: The Complete Encyclopedia of the Animal World 1980

#christmas tree worm #annelid #invertebrate #1980 #1980s #R. Chesher #The Complete Encyclopedia of the Animal World (1980)

[ryan1014n2]

*NARWHALS HIM*

#that's gonna get in the way of trains. RIP #I've been thinking about creatures #who here knows what christmas tree worms look like? they're SO PRETTY. they come in EVERY COLOR #I feel like one of the SR engines would have two tusks but I don't know WHO #I think skarloey wouldn't have one and no one knew exactly why #I feel like I should tag this as something but idk what #my doodles #my post

[indigophoenix4]

Worm tree

#Christmas tree #worm #worm on a string #worm on a tree #decoration