Alitta succinea

Alitta succinea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Annelida
Class:	Polychaeta
Subclass:	Aciculata
Order:	Phyllodocida
Suborder:	Nereidiformia
Family:	Nereididae
Subfamily:	Nereinae
Genus:	Alitta
Species:	Alitta succinea (Frey & Leuckart, 1847)[1]
Synonyms[1]
See text.

Alitta succinea (also known as the common clam worm^{[citation needed]}) is a species of marine annelid in the Nereididae family (commonly known as ragworms or sandworms). It has been recorded throughout Europe and the North West Atlantic, as well as in the Gulf of Maine and South Africa.^[1]

Description

The common clam worm can reach up to 15 centimeters (6 inches) in length, but most specimens are smaller than this. It is brown coloured at the rear, and reddish-brown on the rest of its body. It has an identifiable head with four eyes, two sensory feelers or palps, and many tentacles The Anterior region is called as Head which consists of two segments as anterior Prostomium and posterior peristomium and the last segment known as pygidium.^[2]

Life cycle

It is a freeswimming polychaete, scavenging on the bottom of shallow marine waters. It feeds on other worms and algae. To feed, it uses a proboscis, which has two hooks at the end, to grasp prey and draw it into its mouth. Clamworms are an important food source for bottom-feeding fish and crustaceans, though they can protect themselves by secreting a mucus substance that hardens to form a sheath around them.^{[citation needed]}

During lunar phases in the spring and early summer, the clam worm undergoes "heterogenesis". Their parapodia enlarge so they can swim. The clamworms are then capable of releasing eggs and sperm. Soon after they have released their egg or sperm, they die.^{[citation needed]}

Planktonic larvae develop, grow into adults and eventually sink to the bottom of the water.^{[citation needed]}

Synonyms

• Neanthes perrieri Saint-Joseph, 1898 (subjective synonym)
• Neanthes succinea (Frey & Leuckart, 1847)
• Nereis australis Treadwell, 1923 (subjective synonym)
• Nereis saltoni Hartman, 1936 (subjective synonym)
• Nereis succinea (Frey & Leuckart, 1847)
• Nereis acutifolia Ehlers, 1901 (subjective synonym)
• Nereis belawanensis Pflugfelder, 1933 (subjective synonym)
• Nereis glandulosa Ehlers, 1908 (subjective synonym)
• Nereis limbata Ehlers, 1868 (subjective synonym)
• Nereis reibischi Heinen, 1911 (subjective synonym)
• Nereis succinea Frey & Leuckart, 1847 (Comb. nov.)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Fauchald, K.; Glasby, C. (2009). Alitta succinea (Frey & Leuckart, 1847). Fauchald, K. (ed) (2009). World Polychaeta database. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species on 2 August 2010
2. ^ Parthasarathy