![]() The tube of these worms lies almost entirely beneath the living tissue of its coral associate, such that the brightly-colored radioles appear to emerge from the surface of the coral itself when the worm is feeding (left). The calcareous tube of Spirobranchus worms, with its obvious spike, is sealed by an operculum when the worm withdraws (top & bottom). Like the term ‘bristleworm’ and ‘feather duster’ can have widely varying meanings, it is hard to have a specific conversation using such general and poorly defined terms that are often used in different ways by different people. Obviously, with such drastically different meanings, unless you know exactly in which way the term “bristleworm” is meant, it could refer to the nearly 10,000 currently described species of polychaetes, it could refer to a couple of specific Families of this class (just over a thousand species), or it could refer to a handful of potential pest species of worms that give the entire group a bad reputation, respectively. For example, some people use “bristleworm” synonymously with polychaete to refer to the entire Class as a whole, other people use “bristleworm” only to denote those families with particularly long bristles (such as the Families Nereidae and Amphinomidae), and yet others use it to refer only to the group specifically known as “fireworms” (the Amphinomidae) in the hobby. I also dislike it because it is used in so many ways by different people that it is virtually impossible to have a useful conversation using the term. Polychaetes are often referred to collectively as “bristleworms.” I personally dislike that term, because there are so many negative connotations associated with it among reef aquarists. Regardless of the exact relationships among the classes, the polychaetes appear to be a good group, and that is the group that we are talking about right now. As with most groups of marine organisms, the taxonomy of annelid worms is a subject of on-going research, and the exact relationships among the groups is yet to be resolved satisfactorily. The other two traditional Classes of Annelids, the Class Oligochaeta (the earthworms) and the Class Hirudinida (the leeches) are the subject of some debate, but many worm biologists now consider both these groups to be sub-classes of the Class Clitellata (Rouse and Pleijel 2001). Polychaetes are one of three traditional Classes of worms in the Phylum Annelida (the ring worms). I guess I should back up a step here, and introduce everyone to these groups so we’re all on the same page before I get any further in the discussion. For example, some pet shops use the term to refer to any worms that have a tube and a feeding crown, while others use it to specifically refer to only one or a couple of families of polychaetes (usually either the sabellid and/or serpulid polychaetes). I use the term feather duster loosely, because this is a common name that means different things to different people. Like other tube-dwelling and ‘feather duster’ worms, Christmas Tree Worms are polychaetes. ![]() Despite the fact that they are a beautiful and frequently available in the hobby, they generally do not survive well in reef tanks, and in this article I will try to convince you that they should be avoided by all but experienced hobbyists.Īs usual, I’d like to start with a little background biology before I get into the details of why these worms do poorly in captivity, and how to care for them should you decide to try anyway. The spectacularly multicolored plumes of these worms, especially when jutting up from a live colony of Porites coral, always makes an eye-catching display. Recently I have seen a number of questions on the reef bulletin boards about Christmas Tree Worms, members of the genus Spirobranchus, and decided to write something about their biology for this month. ![]()
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