Comprehensive Description
Gastrolepidia clavigera are polychaetes which belong to the family polynoidae (Britaev & Lyskin, 2002). They are found in tropical water. They inhabit the surface of holothuians, including the families Stichopodidae and Holothuriidae.
They have a very distinct feature; the entire dorsal body is covered by scales. They scales are overlapping and the colour of the scales are similar to that of the host they are associated with.
In order to be a successive commensal species, g. clavigera has developed a range of features, including hooked ventral chaetae and special semicircular lobes. Besides, the colour of the worm is also similar with the host, thus the worm is almost invisible from the host.
The g. clavigera in Heron Island are mostly in dark colour. This might because of the host they are mostly attached to are also dark in colour. Similar body colour is one of the crypsis strategies.
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g. clavigera
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