Eudistylia polymorpha, Giant Feather Duster Worm [+]
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Annelida
Class Polychaeta
Order Canalipalpata
Family Sabellidae
Genus Eudistylia
species: Eudistylia polymorpha [+ITIS +WoRMS]
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Description & Behavior
In human terms, the giant feather duster worm, Eudistylia polymorpha, is not actually so giant—it usually reaches about 25.4 cm long and about 1.3 cm in width—but it unquestionably looks like a feather duster. Encased in a translucent tan tube made of protein and filtered particles and sometimes covered in sand and bits of shell, it boasts a plume, colored orange to maroon or brown which is sometimes banded with lighter pigmentation, about 6.4 cm wide, with about 30 feather-like reddish gills (called radioles) on each side of the tube. The gills serve a double purpose. They are also covered in eyespots, so the worm knows when danger is near and can retreat into its tube.
World Range & Habitat
The giant feather duster worm can been spotted up and down the Pacific Coast from Alaska to San Diego and is especially common in the Pacific Grove, California. It prefers either tide pools (where it often lives in large numbers, giving the impression of a flowering garden) or shallows near the low-tide line in water up to 427 meters deep.
Feeding Behavior (Ecology)
The giant feather duster worm feeds on small food particles and plankton floating in the water and can only thrive in areas with moving currents that bring in new plankton, but it does not simply wait passively for them. Instead, it creates a current in the water to direct the particles into its mouth. (This practice is called "active suspension" feeding.) By waving its "feathers," the animal creates a gentle water flow, which in turn creates vortices on the upper surface of the tentacles. The surface of the tentacles is bathed in sticky mucus that traps any particles unlucky enough to hit it, like a spider's web. The two ciliated pinnules clustered on each side of its head have a groove on their medial surface; once the ciliated "feathers" have waved enough food into the animal's clutches, the groove directs the food particles into the mouth. (Another groove, the longitudinal groove, carries fecal waste and gametes away.) Feather dusters are voracious creatures and if the food is not present, will starve for a while and then shed the tentacle crown.
Life History
The giant feather duster worm's means of fertilization, of course, are external.Oocytes may range from 140 to over 200 µm in diameter, depending on whether the species broods eggs or spawns freely. (In the latter case, the eggs are deposited in gelatinous masses either on the parent's tube or on the seafloor.) In females, sperm receptacles may exist at the base of the crown tentacles. Gametes first accumulate in the abdomen and mature, enter the gonoducts (analogous to the human oviducts), then go on to the longitudinal (sometimes referred to as the fecal) groove. They are then directed upwards, out of the mouth, onto a series of ciliated palps, and into the sea. Once the zygotes are released, they float freely for three to four weeks before settling down.
Conservation Status/Additional Comments
The giant feather duster worm makes an excellent learning tool in the lab, particularly to those interesting in invertebrate anatomy, as its body is highly similar to those of other polychaete annelids, or "bristle worms" like the bearded fireworm and the Christmas tree worm, and even other segmented land worms from the Phylum Annelida. However, the worm also has its detractors. Because it prefers shallow water, it is often found clinging resolutely to wharves, floats, pilings, and other man-made marine structures, making problems for marine workers.
References & Further Research
BioOne ~ CITES ~ Discover Life ~ GBIF ~ Google Scholar ~ ITIS ~ IUCN RedList ~ MarineBio Network ~ NCBI ~ SCIRIS ~ SIRIS ~ Tree of Life Web Project ~ Wikipedia
Photo Gallery - Channel Islands, NOAA Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary
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