When you think of a worm, I guess most people imagine the typical segmented worm you find when digging in the soil of your garden. Worms are also found in our oceans and seas and this article is going to take a closer look at the Peacock Worm – Sabella pavonine.
The Peacock Worms falls into a group called tube worms; this is because they live their lives inside tubes. For the Peacock Worm this is slender tube that can reach 30 cms in length, with one end attached to a hard surface, then covered with sand with about 10 cms sticking above the surface. They have a crown of delicate feathery tentacles that they push out of the tube, these tentacles are delicate with red, violet or brown banded markings. Highly sensitive to disturbances in the water the worm will pull the tentacles quickly back into the tube when it senses motion. When retracted the tubes are unremarkable looking like little twigs sticking up from the sandy bottom but when open they are magnificent and can carpet areas like flowers in a meadow, moving with currents as if a breeze is blowing through them.
The tentacles contain tiny hairlike structures which is how the worm feeds capturing and allowing them to sort the particles they catch in the water. Often the largest particles are discarded, the smallest are pulled inside and eaten but mid-sized particles are mixed with the worm’s mucus and used to construct/repair the tubes they are living in, adding height.
Peacock Worms tend to be found in large groupings and provide a habitat for other species and can be found with sponges, seaweeds and sea squirts attached to them. Mating occurs in spring and summer and unlike the sedentary adults, the larval stage drifts for a while before settling onto the seabed or silty wrecks to begin forming a new forest of worms.
They are a wonderful sight when out feeding, but it can be tricky to point them out to people on a guided dive, just the hand motion of pointing is enough to send them retreating leaving the bare tubes and puzzled divers wondering why twigs are so interesting to me!
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