I’m running very low on readers’ wildlife photos, so send some in this week if you got ’em. They may have to wait a while to be posted, but I don’t like to run out. Thanks!
Today’s batch of marine pictures comes from mathematician and intellectual hero Abby Thompson, who loves to photograph tidepools of California. Her captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. There are some very weird worms here; see especially the last two.
The number of different species of marine worms is incredible, with many of them undescribed. As one of the experts who is kind enough to help with IDs on inat has said, “so many worms, so little time”. A remarkable recent paper, started by a student project at the Bodega Bay Marine Lab, documents 11 new species of nemertean worms found in a very small area that has been studied extensively for decades. So what follows is just a sampling of some of the species found on a short stretch of the Northern California coast.
Genus Thelepus; this medusa-like creature is in the family Terebellidae, called “spaghetti worms” for obvious reasons:
Genus Naineris. It’s hard to pick my favorite among all these worms, but this is a strong contender. The species here is unclear and possibly undescribed. I’ve found just a few of these, in 3-4 very small (like 6”x8”) always-shaded pools in the high intertidal zone. They appear (as does so much) as a slight pinkish fuzz until they are magnified. There’s a video of one eating here, The worm transports sand grains to its mouth along those dark channels, then apparently scrapes off the organic material:
This is a worm trifecta from the same tiny pool- Genus Naineris, Paradialychone ecaudata, and a peanut worm, Phascolosoma agassizii– that’s the black-and-white splotchy one:
Genus Aphrodita (sea mouse). From Wikipedia: “The name of the genus is taken from Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of love, said to be because of a resemblance to human female genitalia.” I think “sea mouse” is a better descriptor, myself. Its camouflage on the sand is almost perfect. I included the next picture of its underside so you can actually see it:
Aphrodita, the underside:
Family Phyllodocidae (paddle worm) This tiny guy (about ½”) looked like a miniature dragon:
Serpula columbiana; luckily, these lovely worms are fairly common:
Serpula columbiana (the pink-and-white bit) closing up:
Genus Amblyosyllis; this and the next one are the other contenders for my favorite. They look to me like illustrations from Dr. Seuss. They’re both undescribed species. These two are the only ones of this genus I’ve found:
Genus Amblyosyllis:
Wow!! Those are so cool! Hard to believe some of them are cousins to the simple earthworms that we have. The Amblyosyllis at the end looks very much like Hallucigenia, an enigmatic fossil critter from the Burgess Shale.
+1: Amblyosyllis at the end looks very much like Hallucigenia
Incredible. One is more striking then the next.
That miniature dragon amazes me.
Gorgeous photos!
Amazing worm diversity! Thanks!
Amazing creatures! It’s interesting how these worms all have complex, elaborate structures for obtaining food. The world of worms goes far beyond the uniformly segmented earthworms that we fasten to our fishing hooks.
Or that we used to dissect in high school biology years ago.
Wow, cool photos! Those animals are works of art. Thanks for sharing these!
Love this series – elegant and almost mystical…
Fantastic – like a view into another universe. Thank you!
As a knotologist, Abby, you would have found plenty to confound among these wonderful animals. The photos are terrific, and some of the species similar to those I encountered in rock pools found in NZ. Rock pools are indeed one of nature’s joys. Thankyou.