Christmas Tree Worms thrive on ocean coral reefs worldwide but there’s one day each year when they can really strut their stuff… can you guess which one?
Saline Night
Christmas Tree Worms, known to marine biologists as Spirobranchus giganteus, are a species of tube-building polychaete worms belonging to the Serpulidae family. Now forget everything you think you know about worms – far from the pallid, slimy and supremely unassuming critters most often seen after it rains (or on the end of a fishhook), Christmas Tree Worms are true visual wonders! (Images via Flickr member Richard Ling)
A Wormderful Christmas Time
They’re called Christmas Tree Worms because, well, just look at ’em! To be fair, the “Christmas Trees” are only one end of the creature, the rest of their bodies look like the bristly segmented worms they are. (Image via Flickr member Philippe Guillaume)
Sand-a Tell Me
Most divers and photographers (and especially, diving photographers) only see the worm’s dazzlingly beautiful, often multicolored, double-spiraled fans that do double duty as feeding appendages and gills. There’s more to them than meets the eye, however. (Image via Flickr member Pierre Pouliquin)
