Biodiversity & Conservation

Gallery worm - Capitella capitata

Gallery worm

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Distribution map

Capitella capitata recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Capitella capitata is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Annelida Segmented worms e.g. ragworms, tubeworms & fanworms
Class Polychaeta Bristleworms, e.g. ragworms, scaleworms, paddleworms, fanworms and tubeworms
Authority (Fabricius,1780)
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Reported from all coasts of Britain and Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Capitella capitata occurs on muddy sand, gritty sand, fine sand or rich mud on the lower shore to sub-littoral. It may be found under pebbles or small stones, with the burrows at or near the surface of the sediment. Capitella capitata is also frequently found in polluted or disturbed areas, such as harbours, near sewage outfalls and sludge dumps and in sediments contaminated with oil.
Text page icon Description A polychaete worm that grows up to 40 mm in length. It is blood-red in colour and has the most earthworm-like appearance of all polychaetes. It lacks gills, eyes and head appendages and has insignificant parapodia. The chaetae are hair-like spines near the head and have crochet hooks towards the rear. The species is sedentary and fragile, with a flexible body.
Identifying features
  • Earthworm-like appearance
  • Long, slender and fragile body
  • The head is conical, and the body narrows at each end
  • Blood red in colour
  • 2-40 mm in length
  • 90 or more chaeta-bearing segments; front region of 9 segments
  • Anterior chaetae hairlike, posterior chaetae with crochet-like hooks
  • A single genital pore dorsally between chaetigers 8 and 9 with an elongated swelling for females, surrounded by spines forming a cross in males
  • No gills or branchial lobes, no head tentacles or appendages
Additional information icon Additional information Capitella capitata represents a complex (Grassle & Grassle, 1976) of up to 50 sibling species (Mendez et al., 1997). Although each species within the complex differs in size, reproductive strategy and larval characteristics (Pearson & Pearson, 1991; Mendez et al., 1997), many studies not accounting for this variation have extrapolated the characteristics of one member to the aggregate as a whole (Grassle & Grassle, 1977). Thus, many detailed Capitella capitata studies exist that fail to determine to which particular species of the complex measured data actually apply (e.g. Grassle & Grassle, 1974). Caution should therefore be used when applying characteristics to subsets of the aggregate complex, as most species contained within it are data deficient.
The species of this complex can be morphologically distinguished (with difficulty) by adult differences in chaetae structure and distribution, the number of segments possessing chaetae, the shape of the pro- and peristomium, the shape of the tail and average wet weight (Grassle & Grassle, 1977; Pearson & Pearson, 1991). Clearer differences may be observed in reproductive strategy and output, larval dispersal modes and timescales, responses to ecological disturbance, genetic profiles and through the inability of different forms to interbreed.

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This review can be cited as follows:

Karen Riley & Jaret Bilewitch 2009. Capitella capitata. Gallery worm. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 11/09/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=2875>