Fairy Tubeworm

Chaetopterus variopedatus

• Group: Other
• Typical depth: 1–585 m

It lives permanently inside a tough parchment tube buried in mud or sand, pumping water through with fanlike segments to strain out drifting food. A tiny porcellanid crab often shares the tube as an unwelcome lodger, and the worm itself can glow blue when disturbed.

Taxonomy: Animalia › Annelida › Polychaeta › Chaetopteridae › Chaetopterus

Species data via the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), AphiaID 129914.