Biodiversity & Conservation

A tubeworm - Owenia fusiformis - General information

Owenia fusiformis

Image Crown copyright - Owenia fusiformis.
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Distribution map

Owenia fusiformis recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Owenia fusiformis is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Ken Neal and Penny Avant Text page icon Refereed by: This information is not refereed.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Annelida Segmented worms e.g. ragworms, tubeworms & fanworms
Class Polychaeta Bristleworms, e.g. ragworms, scaleworms, paddleworms, fanworms and tubeworms
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Widespread around British and Irish coasts.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found buried in sand or muddy sand, at or below low water, on fairly sheltered beaches.
Text page icon Description Owenia fusiformis is a thin, cylindrical, segmented worm, up to 10 cm long, that lives in a tough flexible tube buried in the sand with its anterior end just protruding from the surface. The tube is composed of sand grains or shell fragments glued together in an overlapping fashion. The body of the worm is greenish or yellowish and at the head end the mouth is surrounded by short, reddish, frilly lobes.

This review can be cited as follows:

Ken Neal and Penny Avant 2008. Owenia fusiformis. A tubeworm. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 24/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=4001>