A polychaete worm (Hesionura elongata)

Distribution data supplied by the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS). To interrogate UK data visit the NBN Atlas.Map Help

Summary

Description

Small thin body, 0.5 cm long, with up to 60 segments. Preserved species have a green to yellow colour, with brownish eyes. Prostomium has two to four eyes. Antennae slender, almost as long as the prostomium. The proboscis is long and thin. ‘Tentacle-like’ cirri on the first segment, extending to the 7th or 8th segment, while the ventral cirri on the second segment are shorter than the segment’s width. The third segment has bristles and ventral cirri. Each parapodial lobe generally contains four bristles. The first bristle features a shaft that ends in three rounded teeth. The second bristle has a combined shaft and blade. The third and fourth bristles end in two rounded teeth. Ventral cirri are slender, originating from the distal part of the chaetigerous lobes. Pygidial cirri are extremely long and thin, with extended tips.

Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland

Recorded around Britain and Ireland. Higher density of records in the Bristol Channel, off the coast of Wales into the Irish Sea, the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk and Lincolnshire, and the English Channel.

Global distribution

High occurrence of records in the English Channel and the North Sea off the coast of Belgium and the Netherlands. Recorded off the coast of northeast Germany, Denmark and Norway into the Norwegian Sea. Also recorded in the Bay of Biscay, the Gulf of Lion, the Ligurian Sea, and the Ionian Sea. Recorded across the east coast of the USA and into the Gulf of Mexico. Sparse records in the Indian Ocean and the Andaman Sea.

Habitat

Found in the sublittoral in muddy to coarser sand.

Depth range

0-400 m

Identifying features

  • Yellowish to green colour when preserved, brownish coloured eyes
  • Very small thin body
  • Parapodial lobes usually with four chaetae

Additional information

-none-

Listed by

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Further information sources

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Bibliography

  1. De Kluijver, M.J., van Nieuwenhuijzen, A., Ingalsuo, S. & Veldhuijzen-Van Zanten, H., 2022. Macrobenthos of the North Sea - Polychaeta. Marine Species Identification Portal. ETI Bioinformatics. [cited 2022-06-09] Available from: http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=macrobenthos_polychaeta&menuentry=inleiding

  2. Fauchald, K., 1977. The polychaete worms. Definitions and keys to the orders, families and genera. USA: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

  3. Hayward, P.J. & Ryland, J.S. (ed.) 2017. Handbook of the marine fauna of North-West Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  4. Stachowitsch, M., 1992. The invertebrates: an illustrated glossary. USA: Wiley-Liss.

Datasets

  1. NBN (National Biodiversity Network) Atlas. Available from: https://www.nbnatlas.org.

  2. OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System),  2025. Global map of species distribution using gridded data. Available from: Ocean Biogeographic Information System. www.iobis.org. Accessed: 2025-05-31

Citation

This review can be cited as:

Maleed, M., 2025. Hesionura elongata A polychaete worm. In Tyler-Walters H. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Reviews, [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 31-05-2025]. Available from: https://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/2371

Last Updated: 22/05/2025