Green leafworm

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Green leafworm
Eulalia viridis

Eulalia viridis

Systematics
Trunk : Annelids (Annelida)
Class : Polychaete (Polychaeta)
Order : Phyllodocida
Family : Phyllodocidae
Genre : Eulalia
Type : Green leafworm
Scientific name
Eulalia viridis
( Linnaeus , 1767)

The green leaf worm ( Eulalia viridis ) is a marine annelid from the family of Phyllodocidae within the class of polychaete (Polychaeta), which in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean is widespread.

features

Eulalia viridis has a dorsally flattened, strong, up to about 8.5 cm, sometimes up to about 15 cm long, yellowish-green, in larger animals also darker green body with up to 200 segments . The rounded triangular prostomium is about as long as it is wide. The center antenna is in front of the eyes and is about the same size as the pair of side antennas. The eyes are medium-sized and are occasionally partially covered by the 1st segment. The proboscis is widest at the distal end and covered with diffusely distributed round papillae. The end ring has 12 to 30 papillae. The 1st segment has two tentacles - cirrus - that extend to the 2nd or 3rd segment. The dorsal tentacle cirrus of the 2nd and 3rd segment extend to about the 7th segment, the often thick, slightly flattened ventral tentacle cirrus to about the 3rd or 4th segment. Bristles are usually present from the 3rd segment, but in young animals there can be one or two bristles on the 2nd segment. The dorsal cirrus of the middle segments are lanceolate and about two and a quarter to three times as long as they are wide; the lobes of the parapodia are rounded with a varying number of bristles. The ventral cirrus is oval and slightly longer than the lobes of the parapodia. The cirrus pygidium is three to four times as long as it is wide.

distribution and habitat

Eulalia viridis is widespread in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean on the coasts of Sweden , Denmark , Germany , Norway , the Faroe Islands , and Iceland, as well as on Disko Island .

habitat

Eulalia viridis lives on rocky subsoil in the intertidal zone and down to a depth of 150 m.

Development cycle

Eulalia viridis is sexually separated and does not form swarms when mating. As a rule, the animals mate when they are at least two years old and do so several times in their life. The egg cells are fertilized in the open sea. The greenish, gelatinous egg clutches are attached to brown algae . The larvae develop through two free-floating Trochophora - and two Metatrochophora stadiums before they can be in a number of 5 to 9 segments sink down and crawling worms metamorphose .

nutrition

Eulalia mucosa feeds primarily as a scavenger on the meat of dead animals such as dead molluscs, crabs and polychaetes.

literature

  • Gesa Hartmann-Schröder (1996): Annelida, Borstenwürmer, Polychaeta. Tierwelt Deutschlands 58, pp. 1–648, here p. 117, Eulalia mucosa .
  • John D. Fish, Susan Fish: A Student's Guide to the Seashore . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2011. 540 pages. Eulalia viridis (Linnaeus) , p. 167.
  • Stanley J. Edmonds: Fauna of Australia, Volume 4A. Polychaetes & Allies. The Southern Synthesis 4. Commonwealth of Australia, 2000. Class Polychaeta. Pp. 193-197, Family Phyllodocidae.

Web links

Commons : Eulalia viridis  - collection of images, videos and audio files