giganteus excretes with fully developed nephridia. Giganteus has a faster mitochondrial sequence evolution than other annelids because of its nucleotide composition and divergence of protein sequences. Like other annelids, these worms possess well-developed nervous systems with a central brain and many supporting ganglia, including pedal ganglia, unique to the Polychaeta. giganteus possesses a complete digestive system and has a well-developed closed circulatory system. giganteus, like other members of its family, possesses a modified radiole, usually called the operculum, that it uses to secure its hole when withdrawn into its tube.Īs an annelid, S. One major difference between Christmas tree worms and other Sabellida fan worms is that the latter do not have any specialized body structures to plug their tube holes when they withdraw into them. giganteus also uses its radioles for respiration hence, the structures commonly are called "gills". While they are primarily feeding structures, S. Each spiral is composed of feather-like tentacles called radioles, which are heavily ciliated and cause any prey trapped in them to be transported to the worm's mouth. These are highly modified prostomial palps, which are specialized mouth appendages. The worms' most distinct features are two "crowns" shaped like Christmas trees. Because it does not move outside its tube, this worm does not have any specialized appendages for movement or swimming. It has a tubular, segmented body of an approximate length of 3.8 cm (1.5 in) covered with chaetae, small appendages that aid the worm's mobility. Spirobranchus giganteus is similar to most tube-building polychaetes. The multicolored spirals are highly derived structures for feeding and respiration. Spirobranchus giganteus, commonly known as the Christmas tree worm, is a tube-building polychaete worm belonging to the family Serpulidae.Īnatomy and morphology Assortment of wormsīoth its common and Latin names refer to the two chromatically hued spiral structures, the most common feature seen by divers.
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