Red-and-white Christmas tree worm (Spirobranchus giganteus) on coral.

Red-and-white Christmas tree worm (Spirobranchus giganteus) on coral.

Creator: Nick Hobgood (Nhobgood) via Wikimedia Commons

Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

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Species record

Christmas Tree Worm

Spirobranchus giganteus

Explore the Christmas Tree Worm (Spirobranchus giganteus) species record in The Ark Is Earth, including classification, habitat, distribution, conservation information, and sources.

Summary

The Christmas Tree Worm is a tube-dwelling marine bristle worm of tropical coral reefs across the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions. Its paired spiral crowns filter plankton from the water and rapidly retract into a calcareous tube when disturbed, while the worm contributes to reef-dwelling invertebrate diversity.

Classification in this archive

  1. Kingdom: Animals
  2. Phylum: Segmented worms
  3. Class: Bristle worms
  4. Order: Sabellida
  5. Family: Serpulidae
  6. Genus: Spirobranchus

Habitat and distribution

Selected documented locations — not a complete species range.

Habitat
tropical coral reefs, living calcareous coral, shallow reef waters
Selected regions
Africa, Asia, North America, Oceania, South America

Conservation status

Conservation status not recorded.

Did you know?

  • When disturbed, it pulls its colorful feeding crowns back into its tube.

Sources and attribution