Tag Archives: tubeworm

Gentle Winds and Plentiful Wildlife

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Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky partly cloudy
  • Wind 5-10 knots N
  • Sea state: Calm

Visitors/Boats:

  • Yesterday Laura and Greg came at low tide to deliver fuel and for Laura to teach her online class.
  • Greg came this morning to deliver a load of fresh water which we pumped into our storage tank with the fire pump and hoses.
  • Today we saw a dive vessel in the reserve but no divers. They were fairly close to the wildlife but the sea lions did not seem particularly bothered.
  • One small pleasure craft hovered just outside of the reserve for the majority of the day. They were too far away to see what they were doing, but usually boats like this are fishing.

Ecological:

  • The small seal pup is still here, but she has become more adventurous over the past week. We have seen her napping on the east side of the island, and beside the decommissioned diesel tank on the west side.
  • The sea lion population continues to grow, and so does the smell! We will need to set up more fencing soon before they begin to take over the island completely.
  • The pair of crows that we have been seeing returned today and spent most of their day at Race Rocks.
  • We have continued to observe bald eagles in the reserve. We enjoy watching them swoop overhead and cause a stir amongst the seagulls.
  • One of the seals that we have been joined by over the past weeks was also spotted here in December (juvenile female V173). We are still waiting to hear from the researchers who tagged her to see if there is anything interesting to learn.
  • The elephant seals activity has been uneventful as they continue to moult. They spend their days napping and lounging on our “lawn” or wiggling down to the jetty to soak in the shallow water (and perhaps relieve the itchiness of all that peeling fur!).
  • At low tide yesterday we spotted many neat creatures in the exposed pool on the east side of Great Race Rock: urchins, anemones, crabs, fishes, chitons, barnacles, and tubeworms!

 

Serpula vermicularis: Calcareous tubeworm– The Race Rocks taxonomy

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This patch of calcareous-tubed serpulid worms is exposed on the north east corner of Great Race Rock in a crevasse at low tide. Many other invertebrate species are associated with it in this picture.

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Annelida
Class Polychaeta
Order Sabellida
Family Serpulidae
Subfamily Serpulinae
Genus Serpula
Species vermicularis
Linnaeus,1767
Common Name: Calcareous tubeworm

Description

Serpula vermicularis is a slender, tube-dwelling polychaete between 5 and 7 cm length with about 200 segments. The tubes are cylindrical with occasional rings and irregular lengthwise ridges cut into blunt teeth. The operculum is calcareous and funnel shaped with radial grooves and a serrated circumference.

The color of the body of the worm varies from pale yellow to brick red. The tube is pinkish-white and the operculum is patterned with red and white rays.

Size: up to 7cm

Growth form: vermiform segmented

 

Distribution

These are common at Race Rocks in the subtidal area. They are often seen by divers as small bright red spots which seem to disappear when approached. Their gills withdraw rapidly into the white calcareous tube.

These worms are commonly found throughout north-west and south-west coasts of England and are distributed in the north-east Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

Physiographic preferences: open coast, offshore seabed, estuary

Habit info

The calcareous tubes of Serpula vermicularis can be found attached to hard substrates such as rocks, stones, bivalve shells and ship hulls from low water to the sublittoral in depths up to 250 m. In some very sheltered areas the tubes aggregate together to form small reefs. Often a mass of coiled white tubes shows up on the shore after a storm attached to the holdfasts of kelp .

Reproduction

Type: Gonochoristic

Frequency: annual episodic

Development mechanism: Planktotrophic

Life span: 2-5 years

 An interesting feeding method, kleptoparasitism, of the larva is documented inresearch:

Other Members of the Phylum Annelida at Race Rocks 
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

 October,2003-  Martina Naschberger (PC)

Martina Naschberger

 

Myxicola infundibulum: jelly tube worm– The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Ryan took this underater picture in April of 2009. It captures the transparency well.

Myxicola infundibulum , a slime tube worm is one of the Polychaetes in the Phylum Annelida. It is fairly common among the vast array of other invertebrates living subtidally at Race Rocks.

 

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Annelida
Class Polychaeta
Order sabellida
Family sabellide
Genus Myxicola
Species infundibulum
Common Name: jelly tube worm

 

Other Members of the Phylum Annelida at Race Rocks 
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

 December, 2002-  Ryan MurphyPC)

Eudistylia vancouveri: feather duster tubeworm –The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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The Feather Duster Tube worm is often associated with floating docks on the southern part of Vancouver Island. At Race Rocks, there are no floating docks but Eudistylia inhabits the protected rock crevasses of the lower intertidal zone. It can not withstand drying out too long so being in this tidal level will provide a maximum of an hour exposure at the lowest tides. While exposed in the air, their feather like gills are retracted, and the leathery parchment -like tubes are pinched closed at the opening. Underwater, the gills when released, are often banded a deep red and purple colour.

 

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Annelida
Class Polychaeta
Order Canalipalpata
Suborder Sabellida
Family Sabellidae
Genus Eudistylia
Species vancouveri
Common Name: Northern Feather Duster Wor

GF photo, 2007

Other Members of the Phylum Annelida at Race Rocks 
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

 June 2002  Garry Fletcher (PC)