Home › Animalia › Sipuncula › Sipunculidea › Golfingiida › Phascolionidae › Phascolion Théel, 1875 › Phascolion (Phascolion) › Phascolion (Phascolion) strombi (Montagu, 1804)

Phascolion strombus (Montagu, 1804)

Wed, 04/30/2008 - 06:07 — MonikaKedra
Rank: 
Species
Synonyms: 
Species description: 

Ventral retractor much thinner then dorsal. Holdfast papillae V-shaped with dark hardened border. Sharp, clawlike hooks. 10-30 well-deweloped tentacles present on the introvert. An aggregation of large papillae around the anterior end of the trunk. Trunk length 30-40 mm (usually 5-20mm).

Taxonomic Remarks: 

Some worms lack hooks, probably due to predation and regeneration of introvert.
There is an extreme plasticity of form of this very widespread and common species.

Source of description: 

Cutler, E.B. (1994) The Sipuncula. Their Systematics, Biology, and Evolution. New York: Cornell University Press.
Cutler, E.B.; Cutler, N.J. (1985) A revision of the genera Phascolion, Théel, and Onchnesoma Koren and Danielssen (Sipuncula). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 98:809-850
Kędra, M.; Murina, G.V. (2007) The sipunculan fauna of Svalbard. Polar Research 26:37-47

Source of Images: 

Kędra, M.; Murina, G.V. (2007) The sipunculan fauna of Svalbard. Polar Research 26:37-47

Other localities: 
Pacific Ocean
Arctic Ocean
Southern Ocean
North Atlantic
Mediterranean Sea
Depth range: 
1 - 4030m
Ecology: 

Semimobile, mostly epibenthic worm holding empty shells and tubes and collecting sediments with tentacles.
The density of this ecological group tends to be limited by a number of available empty shells and tubes and determined by the sediment type (Hylleberg 1975).
It avoids soft clay as the irrigation than is impossible due to clogging of the apertures (Hylleberg 1975).

Habitat: 

Mostly epibenthic worm holding empty shells and tubes. It inhabits the shells of gastropods and scaphopods or may live freely.

Links: 
Other information: 
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