Biodiversity & Conservation

A sipunculid worm - Golfingia vulgaris

Golfingia vulgaris

Image Steve Trewhella - A sipunculid Golfingia vulgaris. Image width ca XX cm.
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Distribution map

Golfingia vulgaris recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Golfingia vulgaris is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Sipuncula Peanut worms
Class Sipunculidea
Authority (de Blainville, 1827)
Recent synonyms Golfingia vulgare
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Found throughout the British Isles and off north-east Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Golfingia vulgaris is a benthic species often found in muddy sand or gravel from the low water mark down to depths of several hundred metres.
Text page icon Description Golfingia vulgaris, like all sipunculid worms, has an unsegmented body consisting of an introvert and a trunk. The introvert can be withdrawn into the trunk. The mouth, which is on the end of the introvert, is surrounded by up to 60-150 tentacles in three or more circles. The trunk is at least three times as long as it is wide and is slightly shorter than the introvert. The introvert is covered by many dark brown stumpy hooks at the anterior end. These are arranged irregularly. Golfingia vulgaris may reach up to 20 cm in length. It is very variable in colour, from grey to whitish or yellowish brown.
Identifying features
  • Up to 20 cm in length.
  • Trunk is pigmented at each end.
  • Up to 60-150 tentacles around the mouth in up to three or more circles.
  • Two pairs of retractor muscles are present.
  • Introvert hooks are slightly bent and arranged irregularly.
Additional information icon Additional information No text entered

This review can be cited as follows:

Morvan Barnes 2008. Golfingia vulgaris. A sipunculid 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/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=3408>