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Loimia medusa (Savigny in Lamarck, 1818) 

Spaghetti-Worm or the Red-Spotted Worm


John McLaughlin (2014)

 


Fact Sheet

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Summary


Brief Summary


Classification


Names


Physical Description


General Body Plan


The Tentacles


Colouration


Ecology


Habitats


Crypsis


Larvae


Behaviour


Overview


Feeding


Predatory Defense Mechanisms


Survival Mechanisms


Reproduction


Reproductive Characteristics


Reproductive Strategy


Case Study


Ecological Role


Overview


Secondary Production


Sediment Processing


Biogeographic Distribution


Life History


Larval Development


Building of Sandy Tube


Early Benthic Development


Conservation and Threats


References & Links

Crypsis



Loimia medusa’s primary defensive mechanism relies on crypsis. With relatively slow locomotory abilities, spaghetti-worms rarely find themselves out in the open. Taking shelter in marine ecosystems containing coral, or simply rocks and boulders, it constructs a tube from sand and gravel, before using a mucus-like secretion in order to cement the tube together. The mucus is secreted from a collar-shaped gland just below the tentacles (E. Kaplan, 1999). The worms segmented body hides within this tube, or simply under a rock or the seafloor itself, and only the long spaghetti-like tentacles of the organism extend into open water in order to gather food. Safe from predators, this species can spread out its tentacles over a substrate for several feet in search of food particles, which can then be carried to the mouth by way of a ciliated groove. With each tentacle acting independently, Loimia medusa can retract a single or group of tentacles when in danger.


source: http://www.marinelifephotography.com/marine/worms/Loimia-medusa-2.jpg







Classification

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