Polychaeta worms

Some basic facts

● Polychaetes come in all shapes and sizes

● All polychaetes can regenerate lost segments

● Some species are bioluminescent

● More than 10,000 species

● Only 2% are freshwater dwellers

Basic Structure

● Polychaetes share few common characteristics, they all have a Head tail and segmented body.

● Each segment has a pair of leg-like segments called parapodia

● The body is basiccally a tube within a tube

● Due to such diversity in lifestyles, many parts of the body form and function differently in order to accommodate the species needs.

● Generaly less than 10cm but range from 1mm to 3m

Head Body

The body usually consists of thousands of segment with parapodia on each side.

In most worms the parapodia is used for movement but some species have almost non-existant parapodia because the attach to something.

The body has no hard parts for the muscles to act against when moving so they have hydrostatic skeletons. (best example of a hydrostatic skeleton is an earthworm)

Tail

In some species the tail is used as a means of reproduction, it will grow independent and full of sperm or eggs and then detach.

Most have 4 kinds of appendages on the head, antennae,palps, cilla, and tentacles

Usually 2-5 tentacles which are used for sensing

Reproduction

Most polychaetes sexually reproduce by releasing eggs and sperm into the water column. However many species reproduce differently.

Some asexually reproduce by 'multiple fragmentation' which is splitting into multiple pieces and having each piece grow into another organism.

Others go through "stolonization' which is when the tail grows and is filled with sperm or eggs, then detaches from the 'parent' and releases all the eggs or sperm at the surface of the water.

A small group of polychaetes go through a process called epitoky. epitoky is when the whole animal can transform into a swimming form capable of breeding.

Diet

Some Polychaetes are active predators who hunt and capture prey with powerful jaws, usually eating anything it can catch.

Others are herbivore who eat organic matter such as algae off the sea floor, also some species are filter feeders.

There are five species of polychaetes that eat whale bone, the eat it by breaking it down with an acid produced on their skin.

Habitat● Polychaetes are in every ocean at all depths, and the

temperature ranges from arctic waters to extremely high temperatures in hydrothermal vents

● Some swim out in open ocean while others burrow in mud on shorelines, they also make homes in reefs, but most live in the deep sea.

Fossil record

● The earliest fossil is 520 million years old

● Most fossils are jaws and calcified dwelling tubes

● Throughout time polychaetes have survived 5 mass extinctions, including one which wiped out 96% of marine life

Citations

● www.Smithsonianmag.com/science-nature\14-fun-facts-about-marine-bristle worms-180955773/?no-ist

● www.paleontologyonline.com/articles/2014\fossil-focus-annelids/

● Www.Chesapeakebay.net/fieldguide/critter/bristle_worms

● www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/index.php