Tubeworm

Running Heading : Tube worm

Tube worm

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Tube Worm

The Reef-building tube worm or Phragmatopoma lapidosa , belong to the Phylum Annelida , Class Polychaeta , Terebellida and Family Sabellariidae . This species is predominately present in the Atlantic Ocean from the coast of Florida to Santa Catarina near Brazil , and also along the Gulf of Mexico . The Tube worms are present in depths such as a few feet below water to about 100 meters below the surface . They grow the best when the height of water is

about 2 meters . They are also present in areas where the tidal currents are high (Zale , 1989

The tube worm consists of a segmented cylindrical body that is made up of four portions namely , the head (opercular stalk , the para-thoracic portion , abdominal portion and the caudal portion . The head contains a pre-oral region fused to a post-oral region . The head of the tube worm is round and anterior opercular disc has a stopper . Several claw-like processes present on the opercular help to guide the sand particles The para-thoracic region is made up of 3 segments which include lateral appendages , gills and muscular plate . The abdomen is composed of 32 segments which help to anchor the body . The caudal portion ends in the anus . The tube worms which are 30 to 40 mm long weight about 30 to 40 mg . Along the Florida coast , the tube worms can grow to a height of 10 to 30 cm (Zale , 1989

Successive colonization of the...