More than 2200 species of the wild flora and fauna photographed in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico and the surrounding area.
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Segmented Worms of Zihuatanejo
PHYLUM ANNELIDA
Bispira monroi
Bispira monroi
-Segmented Worms (Phylum Annelida)
-Polychaete Worms (Class Polychaeta)
-Sedentary and Tube-dwelling Bristleworms (Subclass Sedentaria)
-Infraclass Canalipalpata
-Order Sabellida
-Feather Duster Worms (Family Sabellidae)
-Subfamily Sabellinae
-Genus Bispira
-Feather Duster Worm (Bispira monroi)
Features a prominent, fan-shaped radiolar crown composed of feather-like filaments used for feeding and respiration. The worm’s body is elongated and soft, housed within a tough, parchment-like tube that it secretes. Commonly inhabits coral reefs, rocky substrates, and sandy bottoms, where it attaches its tube to hard surfaces. A filter feeder, it uses its radiolar crown to capture plankton and organic particles from the water column. The filaments are covered in cilia that transport food to the mouth.
Description
• Bispira monroi is a marine polychaete worm in the family Sabellidae, commonly known as a feather-duster worm. It has a segmented body housed in a protective tube and a prominent crown of feathery, radiating tentacles. The tentacles are used for filter-feeding and respiration, and the crown can be rapidly withdrawn when the animal is disturbed.
Range
• Bispira monroi is a marine species recorded from the eastern Pacific region. It is treated here as present in the coastal waters of Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico.
Habitat
• This worm lives in marine environments, attached to hard surfaces or occupying a tube secured to the substrate. It may be found on rocks, reef surfaces, shells and other stable underwater structures, where it extends its tentacle crown into the current to feed.
Diet
• Bispira monroi is a suspension feeder that captures microscopic plankton and fine organic particles from the surrounding water using its feathery tentacles.