Reteterebella lirrf
Spaghetti Worm
©Alexander Semenov: Reteterebella lirrf in the lab at LIRS, removed from its fine muddy tube within dead coral. Paratype AM W.44545.
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Annelida
Class
Polychaeta
Family
Terebellidae
Genus
Reteterebella
Species
Reteterebella lirrf
Colours
Distinguishing features
These tubeworms have conspicuous white spaghetti-like feeding tentacles that protrude up to 1.5 metres from the reef substrate in which the worm is concealed. The worm itself stays within its tube in the reef and is never seen unless removed deliberately.
Dr Pat Hutchings (Australian Museum) is confident that this species is the only one in the Lizard Island area with such long feeding tentacles. This character cannot be used in other locations unless the terebellid fauna has been thoroughly studied.
Size
- Size data has not been obtained.
Synonyms
Similar taxa
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Animalia:
species: Reteterebella queenslandia
is a valid species found at the southern end of the GBR and possibly in the Solomon Islands. The record of this species from Lizard Island by Hutchings and Glasby (1988) is based on a misidentification for Reteterebella lirrf (de Matos Noguiera et al, 2015).
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Local abundance
- Lizard Island: Extremely common
Web resources
References
- De Matos Nogueira, J. M., Hutchings, P. and O. Carrerette (2015). Terebellidae (Annelida, Terebelliformia) from Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Zootaxa, 4019 (1): 484-576. LIRS catalog number 1926.
- Hutchings, P. (1978). The hidden fauna of coral reefs, Oceans, 1(4): 160-163. LIRS catalog number 686.
- Hutchings, P.A. and C. Glasby (1988). The Amphitritinae (Polychaeta: Terebellidae) from Australia, Records of the Australian Museum, 40: 1-60. LIRS catalog number 354.
- View all references