Christmas Tree Worms

[denise]

The Christmas tree worm, Spirobranchus giganteus, looks like a pair of brightly colored Christmas trees on the surface of a live coral.


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Christmas Tree Worms, on a brain coral, West Palm Beach
Photo by Debbie Buck

These tube dwelling worms burrow into the surface of coral, extending only their feathery gills outside. These gills have two functions, they filter plankton out of the water which the worms eat, and they also act as a breathing mechanism for the worms. Christmas tree worms come in a variety of colors, from orange, blue, pink, yellow, red, white, gray to brown, and grow to 4 inches in length.


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Blue variation of Christmas tree worms, Pompano Beach
Photo by Robert Palmer

Christmas tree worms are very sensitive to disturbances and will rapidly retreat into their burrows when alarmed. They usually re-emerge, very slowly, a minute later, testing the water before fully extending their plumes again. Christmas-tree worms are distributed throughout the world's tropical oceans. They live on coral reefs in the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific regions. They are quite common around Florida's coastline.


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Christmas Tree Worms, on a brain coral, Key Largo
Photo by Courtney Redfield

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Photos by Debbie Buck

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