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Dieren en planten

Worms   Tubeworms   Trumpet worm   Pygospio elegans   Keel worms   Algae and seaweed   Diatoms   Flagellates   Phytoplankton   Marine fauna   Animal plankton   

Keel worm

size:

up to 5 centimeters

color:

tube: white

food:

plankton

enemies:

not tasty for eating

reproduction:

sexual

  • Dut: Kalkkokerworm, driehoeksworm, spiraalkokerworm.
  • Lat: Pomatoceros lamarcki, Pomatoceros triqueter, Spirorbis borealis, Spirorbis spirorbis
  • Eng: Keel worm
  • Ger: Dreikantröhrenwurm, Posthörnchenwurm
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Tubeworms, Foto Fitis, www.fotofitis.nl

Keel worms

You often find keel worms on fish crates and other drifting objects which wash ashore. There are all kinds of species. The large tubes in the picture above are from the Pomatoceros triqueter, which you also find on stones. The small spiral tubes are Spirorbis spirorbis, which are often found on large brown seaweed species such as bladder wrack. They eat plankton, which they filter through a crown of feathery tentacles.

  • Distribution and habitat
    Keel worms on seaweed, Sytske Dijksen, www.fotofitis.nl

    Keel worms are found in all the seas around the world, living on stones or drifting objects. Some species live on large seaweed species.