This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 11:34 pm and is filed under About, Adventure Cruises, History, Information, Sites, Snorkeling, Snuba. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Photo Courtesy marinebio.org
They come in many colors such as orange, yellow, blue, and white and although they are very small (3.8 centimeters average), they are breathtaking beautiful. The Christmas tree worm is a Christmas tree shaped tube dwelling worm who use their colorful tentacles (plumes) for feeding on plankton and food particles. Their magnificent plumes are also used for respiration. Most of the worm is in its burrow, which has been bored deep into the calcareous coral. These creatures are very sensitive to light and any change will find the worm retracting with lightening speed only to emerge minutes later with extreme caution.
The Christmas tree worm is a polychaete ciliary feeder. They use their radioles (the hair-like beautiful appendages that spiral out from their spine) to gather phytoplankton from the water column. Food particles are sorted and larger ones discarded. Sand grains, which are stored later for tube building, are directed to storage sacs.
There are both male and female worms who broadcast their eggs and sperm into the water. The eggs are fertilized and develop into larvae, eventually settling down on the coral heads and burrow down to begin their lives.
The average snorkeler and diver in Hawaii can see these beautiful creatures anywhere around the islands. As always, we remember to look and never touch, take lots of pictures and leave behind only bubbles!
