''Sabella pavonina'', commonly known as the peacock worm, is a marine

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class (biology), class of generally marine invertebrate, marine annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that ...

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wor ...

belonging to the family

Sabellidae Sabellidae, or feather duster worms, are a family of marine polychaete tube worms characterized by protruding feathery branchiae. Sabellids build tubes out of a tough, parchment-like exudate, strengthened with sand and bits of shell. Unlike the ...

. They can be found along the coasts of

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

and the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. It is found in shallow, tidal waters with a bed of mud, sand or gravel. It is sometimes found on rocks or

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

s. It is 10-25 centimetres in length. Its body is elongated and divided into 100-600 small segments. The head has two fans of feathery

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 arising from fleshy, semi-circular lobes. The body is mostly grey-green while the tentacles are brown, red or purple with darker bands. The worm lives inside a smooth tube of fine mud or sand particles held together with

mucus Mucus ( ) is a slippery aqueous secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. It is typically produced from cells found in mucous glands, although it may also originate from mixed glands, which contain both serous and mucous cells. It is ...

. The tube stands upright with the lower end attached to stones and the upper end protruding from the sea bed. When covered by water, the worm extends its tentacles out of the tube to feed by filtering out small food particles. At low tide or when disturbed, it withdraws back into the tube.

References

*Barrett, John & Yonge, C. M. (1977) ''Collins Pocket Guide to the Sea Shore'', Collins, London. *Forey, Pamela & Fitzsimons, Cecilia (1994) ''Letts Pocket Guide to Sea & Seashore Life'', Letts, London. *Naylor, Paul (2003) ''Great British Marine Animals'', Sound Diving Publications.

External links

ARKive - images and video
* Sabellida Animals described in 1820 Taxa named by Marie Jules César Savigny {{annelid-stub