Christmas Tree Worm
Description
Christmas tree worms live embedded on corals, and in many colors. They are easily spotted due to their beauty, shape and color They are tube dwelling worms with two cone shaped spiraling plumes used in feeding and respiration. The plumes are quickly retracted even when slightly disturbed. It has well developed digestive, circulatory and nervous systems with a central brain. It feeds on plankton and suspended food particles by filter feeding. Eggs and sperms are released to the water. Christmas tree worms average about 1.5 inches in length. They can live about 40 years in an unpolluted habitat. More commonly they live between 10-20 years due to climate change and predation. these worms hide two thirds of their body in their calcium carbonate tubes. While their bodies are mere 1.5 inches in length, their tubes can grown to ten inches. While they typically live in coral, these worms occasionally burrow into giant clams. They stay in one home till they die unless their host die.
Classification
Scientific name - Spirobranchus giganteus
Order - Sabellida
Family - Serpulidae
Kingdom - Animalia
Class - Polychaeta
Phylum - Annelida
Genus - Spirobranchus
Distribution
The Christmas tree worm lives in tropical oceans between the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific. They prefer shallow waters less than 100m deep. After their larval stage, Christmas tree worms pick a coral habitat. They prefer specific species, including stony and brain corals. The colony density varies between a handful to over 100 worms per coral head, depending on the parent worm’s size and the coral’s health. Once the larva has selected a coral, it constructs a calcium carbonate tube that remains its permanent home throughout its lifespan. Their tubes can develop between eight and ten inches in length, and the worms produce them by excreting calcium carbonate obtained from ingesting sand particles. Since the tube is significantly longer than the worm, the worm can retract fully within it if it feels threatened. Once withdrawn, the worm can use its spiny operculum to plug the tube hole and defend itself from predators. worms do not change tubes but occupy one tube throughout their lifetime. They are very sensitive to light, shadows and motion. The worm builds a calcareous tube in coral surfaces to protect its soft body.
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Male and Female worms send eggs and sperms to the water to reproduce, the eggs become fertilized apart from the female worm, Once these eggs are fertilized, these eggs develop as larvae within 24 hours. The larvae then settle on some coral where they produce a mucus tube that becomes a calcareous one, and the creatures become Christmas tree worms. The larvae feed on microscopic plankton for a few days until they locate a stony coral head. After some time the larvae forms into an adult.
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Christmas tree worms help to save coral reefs, they play an important role in saving marine ecosystems. Even though they are not endangered, their population is reducing day by day, if all the Christmas tree worms die, coral reefs would be destroyed too. The reasons for their reduction is water pollution and global warming. If you love this beautiful world please don't harm these poor creatures, they never did anything wrong to you.
