''Biremis blandi'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of marine polychaete worm and the only species in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Biremis''. It was first described by Polloni, Rowe, and Teal in 1973. The species was discovered in 1971 during a dive by the research

submersible A submersible is a small watercraft designed to operate underwater. The term "submersible" is often used to differentiate from other underwater vessels known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully self-sufficient craft, capable of ind ...

DSV ''Alvin'' at in the

Tongue of the Ocean The Tongue of the Ocean (TOTO) is the name of a region of much deeper water in the Bahamas separating the islands of Andros and New Providence. Features The TOTO is a U-shaped, relatively flat-bottomed trench measuring approximately . Its depth ...

in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. It is named for ''Alvin'' pilot Edward L. Bland, Jr., who first observed it. ''Biremis blandi'' is described as a

terebellid The Terebellidae is a marine family of polychaete worms, of which the type taxon is ''Terebella'', described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Characteristics Most terebellids live in burrows or crevices and ar ...

worm with an enlarged tentacular lobe with numerous long

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

s, prominent longitudinal muscular ventral ridges, thoracic segments lacking

chaeta A chaeta or cheta (from Greek χαίτη “crest, mane, flowing hair"; plural: chaetae) is a chitinous bristle or seta found in annelid worms, (although the term is also frequently used to describe similar structures in other invertebrates suc ...

e, and abdominal segments with pinnules bearing uncini. The worm lacks

eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

s and

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

s. It has been observed swimming and resting on the ocean floor.

References

Terebellida Animals described in 1973 {{annelid-stub