Description
Members of this genus live in thick, parchment-like tubes that project from the sediment on the seabed. The tubes are covered on the outside by fragments of shell, algae, fibers and other small objects, collected by the worm and stuck in place by mucus. The worm's tube is a food-catching tool that creates a small micro-reef where small invertebrate prey reside. Diopatra dart partially out of the tube and grasp the prey with their maxillae and mandibles. Their large anterior parapodia help them to immobilize the prey.Species
The World Register of Marine Species includes these species in the genus. A 2021 study also identified 4 new species in the south-west Atlantic. *''Diopatra aciculata'' Knox & Cameron, 1971 *''Diopatra agave'' Grube, 1869 *''Diopatra akarana'' Knox & Hicks, 1973 *''Diopatra albimandibulata'' Paxton, 1993 *''Diopatra amboinensis'' Audouin & Milne Edwards, 1833 *''Diopatra amoena'' Kinberg, 1865 *''Diopatra angolensis'' Kirkegaard, 1988 *''Diopatra bengalensis'' Hartman, 1974 *''Diopatra bilobata'' Imajima, 1967 *''Diopatra brasiliensis'' Kinberg, 1910 *''Diopatra brevicirris'' Grube, 1856 *''Diopatra bulohensis'' Tan & Chou, 1996 *''Diopatra chiliensis'' Quatrefages, 1866 *''Diopatra chiliensis'' Quatrefages, 1865 *''Diopatra claparedii'' Grube, 1878 *''Diopatra cuprea'' (Bosc, 1802) *''Diopatra dentata'' Kinberg, 1865 *''Diopatra denticulata'' Fauchald, 1968 *''Diopatra dexiognatha'' Paxton & Bailey-Brock, 1986 *''Diopatra dubia'' Day, 1960 *''Diopatra farallonensis'' Fauchald, 1968 *''Diopatra gesae'' Paxton, 1998 *''Diopatra gigova'' Paxton, 1993 *''Diopatra hanleyi'' Paxton, 1993 *''Diopatra hannelorae'' Steiner & Amaral sp. nov. *''Diopatra heterodentata'' Hartmann-Schröder, 1965 *''Diopatra italica'' Castelnau, 1842 *''Diopatra khargiana'' Wesenberg-Lund, 1949 *''Diopatra kristiani'' Paxton, 1998 *''Diopatra leuckarti'' Kinberg, 1865 *''Diopatra lilliputiana'' Paxton, 1993 *''Diopatra longicornis'' Kinberg, 1865 *''Diopatra longissima'' Grube, 1850 *''Diopatra maculata'' Paxton, 1993 *''Diopatra madeirensis'' Langerhans, 1880 *''Diopatra malabarensis'' Quatrefages, 1866 *''Diopatra marinae'' Steiner & Amaral sp. nov. *''Diopatra marocensis'' Paxton, Fadlaoui & Lechapt, 1995 *''Diopatra micrura'' Pires, Paxton, Quintino & Rodrigues, 2010 *''Diopatra monroi'' Day, 1960 *''Diopatra monroviensis'' Augener, 1918 *''Diopatra musseraensis'' Augener, 1918 *''Diopatra neapolitana'' Delle Chiaje, 1841 *''Diopatra neotridens'' Hartman, 1944 *''Diopatra obliqua'' Hartman, 1944 *''Diopatra oligopectinata'' Paxton, 1993 *''Diopatra ornata'' Moore, 1911 *''Diopatra papillata'' Fauchald, 1968 *''Diopatra paradoxa'' Quatrefages, 1866 *''Diopatra pectiniconicum'' Steiner & Amaral sp. nov. *''Diopatra rhizoicola'' Hartmann-Schröder, 1960 *''Diopatra rhizophorae'' Grube, 1856 *''Diopatra semperi'' Grube, 1878 *''Diopatra splendidissima'' Kinberg, 1865 *''Diopatra sugokai'' Izuka, 1907 *''Diopatra tridentata'' Hartman, 1944 *''Diopatra uncinifera'' Quatrefages, 1866 *''Diopatra variabilis'' Southern, 1921 *''Diopatra victoriae'' Steiner & Amaral sp. nov. *''Diopatra viridis'' Kinberg, 1865References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3028765 Errantia