Terebellids are commonly known as spaghetti worms due to the extensible anterior tentacles that can extend a lot longer than the body length to collect food particles on the sediment. 

Characteristics

Terebellids are sedentary worms that inhabit burrows or crevices and are often of large size, ranging up to 150 millimetres in length. They have numerous and very long tentacles around the mouth that are used for finding and collecting food particles from the sediment surface. The tentacles are not retractable as is the case in Amphaeridae, and instead they move the particles to the mouth with cilia. The body is wider anteriorly and segments are thinner towards the back end. Gills can be of bright colours and are located on the anterior end can be branching, be simple filaments or be absent.

Recommended citation

Nygren A. Terebellidae Johnston, 1846. www.artsdatabanken.no/Pages/313961. Downloaded <year-month-day>.