- Common clam worm
Taxobox
name = Clam worm
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Annelida
classis =Polychaeta
ordo =Phyllodocida
familia =Nereididae
genus = "Nereis"
species = "N. succinea"
binomial = "Nereis succinea"
binomial_authority = (Frey & Leuchart, 1847)The Common clam worm ("Nereis succinea") is a widely distributed
polychaete worm. It is often referred to as aragworm orsandworm , or simply as the "clam worm", but these terms can all refer to any one of a number of other species of thegenus "Nereis" (or indeed to other polychaetes). The name "common clam worm" is less ambiguous, but is also sometimes used for other "Neries" species such as "N. virens" and "N. limbata".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 eight
tentacles .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 andcrustacean s, though they can protect themselves by secreting amucus substance that hardens to form a sheath around them.During
lunar phase s 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.Plankton iclarvae develop, grow intoannelids and eventually sink to the bottom of the water.ee also
Ragworm
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