Biodiversity & Conservation

General Information

A sludge-worm - Tubifex tubifex - General information

Image Whirling Disease Foundation - Tubifex tubifex.
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Tubifex tubifex recorded () and expected () distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Tubifex tubifex is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Researched by:	Georgina Budd	Refereed by:

Taxonomy

Phylum	Annelida	Segmented worms e.g. ragworms, tubeworms & fanworms
Class	Clitellata	Earthworms, pot worms and leeches

Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland	Widely distributed around Britain and Ireland, but probably under recorded in surveys. Reported in the upper Forth, Humber, Thames, Tamar and Severn estuaries, also on the Norfolk coast east of Blyford, from mud in the Menai Strait, and from Belfast Lough
Habitat information	Inhabits cohesive muds in a variety of habitats and is tolerant of oxygen deficiency. It is especially abundant in polluted sediments and marginal habitats not occupied by many other species, e.g. upper estuaries where interstitial salinity is less than 5 psu.
Description	Tubifex tubifex is a slender segmented worm that may grow up to 20 cm in length. The number of body segments may number between 34-120 and have on each side an upper and lower bundle of chitinous bristles (setae), these are used for burrowing. The worm may appear red in colour owing to the possession of the respiratory pigment haemoglobin. The species is a hermaphrodite, with a complex reproductive system.

This review can be cited as follows:

Georgina Budd 2005. Tubifex tubifex. A sludge-worm. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 03/09/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=4521>

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