terebellid polychaete (family Terebellidae)

This terebellid polychaete burrows into the bottom and then extends long feeding tentacles from its head end to capture tiny plants and animals. Food particles are moved to the mouth by cilia on the tentacles or by shortening the tentacles.



Here is a ventral view of an exhumed Antarctic terebellid polychaete, with its feeding tentacles extended; you can see some of its characteristic polychaete spines in the middle section of its body.



Here is a dorsal view of an exhumed Antarctic terebellid polychaete, with its feeding tentacles extended; you can see its dark red dendritic gills (branchiae).



Ross Sea Terebellidae genera include Amphitrite, Lanicides, Leaena, Lysilla, Nicolea, Pista, Polycirrus, Streblosoma, Terebella, Thelepus, and Thelepides [3,4].



Terebellid polychaetes have been found in the stomach contents of the fish Trematomus bernacchii [2].

Antarctic polychaetes have a much higher percentage of unique species than polychaete faunas in other parts of the world [1].

1: Adaptations within Antarctic Ecosystems : Proceedings of the Third SCAR Symposium on Antarctic Biology. George A. Llano, ed. Washington : Smithsonian Institution ; Houston, Tex. : distributed by Gulf Pub. Co., 1977. pp.1111-1127; 2: Bulletin de l'Institut Oceanographique 66(1368), 1966; 3: Marine Fauna of the Ross Sea : Polychaeta. GA Knox & DB Cameron. NIWA Biodiversity Memoir 108. Wellington, New Zealand : National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, 1998; 4: Polychaeta Myzostomidae and Sedentaria of Antarctica. O Hartman. Antarctic Research Series Volume 7. Washington DC : American Geophysical Union of the National Academy of Sciences - National Research Council, 1966

Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs ©Norbert Wu, Peter Brueggeman, & Canadian Museum of Nature (Kathleen Conlan). Photographs may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Norbert Wu, Peter Brueggeman, & Canadian Museum of Nature (Kathleen Conlan). Norbert Wu no longer grants permission for uncompensated use of his photos under any circumstances whatsoever; want more info?