Spirobranchus giganteus or CHRISTMAS TREE WORM (Emblemariopsis diaphanus) with Glass Blenny
© Ned DeLoach, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Location: Christmas-tree worms are widely distributed throughout the world’s tropical oceans. They have been known to occur from the Caribbean to the Indo-Pacific
this shot: Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles
Status: Least Concern
Facts: source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirobranchus_giganteus
Spirobranchus giganteus is commonly found embedded in entire heads of massive corals.
Like members of its family, it can secrete a calcareous tube around its body.
This tube serves as the worm’s home and protection.
S. giganteus usually bores a hole into an existing head of living coral before secreting its tube, thereby increasing its level of protection.
As sedentary inhabitants of coral reefs, Christmas tree worms feed primarily by filter feeding.
They use their brightly-colored radioles to filter microorganisms from the water, which are then deposited straight into the worm’s digestive tract.
Few organisms are known to feed on tube-borne polychaetes and S. giganteus is no exception.
It required three dives and approximately five hours underwater to capture this image.
