Lacy tubeworm

Scientific name : Filograna implexa

Small worm, protected by a white calcareous tube. The main feature of this species is the habit to produce colonies constituted by a large number of twisted and stranded tubes, creating masses of more than fifty centimetres of diameter. The single specimens are pinkish, about half centimetre long, with eight short white tentacles and two yellow operculas.
The colonies may be found in dark ares, on hard bottoms, where they feed on small particles that they can catch from the water column by means of the crown of tentacles. They can also leave as epibiont of other sessile organisms, such as gorgonians. In spite of the robust shape, they are extremely fragile and delicate.

Lacy tubeworm Author FEDERICO BETTI Id: 1