// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Spirobranchus say? "I'm worming my way
| Spirobranchus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Spirobranchus giganteus, a popular species in the genus. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Clade: | Pleistoannelida |
| Clade: | Sedentaria |
| Order: | Sabellida |
| Family: | Serpulidae |
| Subfamily: | Serpulinae |
| Genus: | Spirobranchus Blainville, 1818 |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Pomatoceros Philippi, 1844 | |
Spirobranchus is the second largest genus of tube-building annelid fanworms in the family Serpulidae. Members of Spirobranchus are known as Christmas tree worms.[1]
The worms form a calcareous tube which becomes incorporated into their host coral. The prominent features visible externally are a pair of conical spiral radiole bundles ("trees"), and an operculum that closes when they retract into their tube.
The crown of radioles serves for both food-gathering and respiration. "Christmas tree" refers to the tiered, tapered shape, whilst "Spirobranchus" translates to "spiral gill".
Taxonomy and systematics
[edit]The type species Spirobranchus giganteus was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1766 as Serpula gigantea.[2] In 1818, Henri de Blainville separated "S. gigantea de Linné" into a its own genus named in French as "Spirobranche".[3]
Species
[edit]The species in the genus (World Register of Marine Species) include:
- Spirobranchus aloni Perry, Bronstein, Simon-Blecher, Atkins, Kupriyanova, ten Hove, Levy & Fine, 2018
- Spirobranchus corniculatus (Grube, 1862)
- Spirobranchus latiscapus Marenzeller, 1885
- Spirobranchus americanus (Day, 1973)
- Spirobranchus arabicus Monro, 1937
- Spirobranchus baileybrockae Pillai. 2009
- Spirobranchus cariniferus (Gray, 1843)
- Spirobranchus coronatus Straughan, 1967
- Spirobranchus corrugatus Straughan, 1967
- Spirobranchus decoratus Imajima, 1982
- Spirobranchus dendropoma Mörch, 1863
- Spirobranchus eitzeni Augener, 1918
- Spirobranchus gardineri Pixell, 1913
- Spirobranchus giganteus (Pallas, 1766)
- Spirobranchus incrassatus Krøyer in Mörch, 1863
- Spirobranchus kraussii (Baird, 1865)
- Spirobranchus lamarcki (Quatrefages, 1866)
- Spirobranchus latiscapus (Marenzeller, 1885)
- Spirobranchus lima (Grube, 1862)
- Spirobranchus maldivensis Pixell, 1913
- Spirobranchus minutus (Rioja, 1941)
- Spirobranchus murrayi Pillai, 2009
- Spirobranchus nigranucha (Fischli, 1903)
- Spirobranchus paumotanus (Chamberlin, 1919)
- Spirobranchus polycerus (Schmarda, 1861)
- Spirobranchus polytrema (Philippi, 1844)
- Spirobranchus pseudopolytremus Pillai, 2009
- Spirobranchus richardsmithi Pillai, 2009
- Spirobranchus spinosus Moore, 1923
- Spirobranchus taeniatus (Lamarck, 1818)
- Spirobranchus tenhovei Pillai, 2009
- Spirobranchus tetraceros (Schmarda, 1861)
- Spirobranchus triqueter (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Spirobranchus zelandicus Pillai, 2009
- Spirobranchus zibrowii Pillai, 2009
References
[edit]- ↑ Iñiguez, Abril; Starger, Craig; Kupriyanova, Elena; Willette, Demian; Varman, Tristan; Drew, Joshua; Toha, Abdul; Maralit, Benedict; Carpenter, Kent; Barber, Paul (2013-01-01). "Phylogeography of the Christmas Tree worm Spirobranchus corniculatus (Annelida, Serpulidae) from the Coral Triangle, Australia, and Fiji". 2013 International Polychaete Conference: IPC2013: Program and Abstract Handbook: IPC International Polychaete Conference, Sydney 2013: 4-9 August 2013, Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales.
Christmas Tree [Worms] is a common name given to a group of large and colourful serpulid polychaetes of the genus Spirobranchus that are obligate symbionts of hermatypic corals commonly found in tropical and subtropical regions world-wide.
- ↑ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Spirobranchus Blainville, 1818". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2026-04-11.
- ↑ Blainville, Henri Marie Ducrotay de. (1818). Mémoire sur la classe des Sétipodes, partie des Vers à sang rouge de M. Cuvier, et des Annélides de M. de Lamarck. Bulletin des Sciences, par la Société Philomatique de Paris. 1818: 78-85., available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4146409 (p. 79).
Bibliography
[edit]- Ruppert, Edward E.; Richard S. Fox; Robert D. Barnes (2004). Invertebrate Zoology: A Functional Evolutionary Approach (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole - Thomson Learning Inc. pp. 963. ISBN 0-03-025982-7.
 | This annelid-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |