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Dieren en planten

Worms   Tubeworms   Trumpet worm   Pygospio elegans   Ross worm   Algae and seaweed   Diatoms   Flagellates   Phytoplankton   Fauna in tidal areas   Benthic fauna   

Mens en Milieu

Water   Water currents   Sea currents   Tides and water levels   Seawater   

Pygospio elegans

size:

up to 11 centimeters

color:

tube: sandy colored
worm: greenish or yellowish with a brown gut

food

algae growing on the tidal flats

enemies:

shorebirds, shrimp, fish

reproduction:

sexual

  • Dut: Zandkokerworm (zandpijp)
  • Lat: Spiophanes bombyx, Spio filicornis, Pygospio elegans
  • Eng: tubeworm species Pygospio elegans
  • Ger: Sandröhrenwurm (Pygospio-Wurm)
  • Dan: Pygospio elegans
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Pygospio, Ecomare

Pygospio elegans

If you walk over the flats during low tide, you often see the top ends of the Pygospio elegans worms sticking out of the soft bottom. During high tide, two tentacles extend out of the tube which the worm uses to scrape the bottom. The vibrating hairs on the tentacles carry the food to the mouth. This worm is also capable of catching food with its appendages and by producing a mucus with its tube. Pygospio elegans is not tolerant to severe winters.

  • Distribution and habitat

    You find these tubeworms on sandy tidal flats and sandbanks in the Wadden Sea, delta region and North Sea coast. The tubeworm of the tidal flats is called Pygospio elegans. The North Sea contains other species. The worm Spio filicornis gathers its food with orange tentacles, three to four centimeters long. This tubeworm is found throughout the North Sea; however the greatest density is west and north of the Wadden Islands up to the Frisian Front. Spiophanes bombyx is found on the southern edge of the Doggers Bank in high concentrations.