| Spirobranchus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Spirobranchus giganteus, a popular species in the genus. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Clade: | Pleistoannelida |
| Clade: | Sedentaria |
| Order: | Sabellida |
| Family: | Serpulidae |
| Subfamily: | Serpulinae |
| Genus: | Spirobranchus Blainville, 1818 |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Pomatoceros Philippi, 1844 | |
Spirobranchus is the second largest genus of tube-building annelid fanworms in the family Serpulidae. Members of Spirobranchus are known as Christmas tree worms.[1]
The worms form a calcareous tube which becomes incorporated into their host coral. The prominent features visible externally are a pair of conical spiral radiole bundles ("trees"), and an operculum that closes when they retract into their tube.
The crown of radioles serves for both food-gathering and respiration. "Christmas tree" refers to the tiered, tapered shape, whilst "Spirobranchus" translates to "spiral gill".
Taxonomy and systematics
The type species Spirobranchus giganteus was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1766 as Serpula gigantea.[2] In 1818, Henri de Blainville separated "S. gigantea de Linné" into a its own genus named in French as "Spirobranche".[3]
Species
The species in the genus (World Register of Marine Species) include:
- Spirobranchus aloni Perry, Bronstein, Simon-Blecher, Atkins, Kupriyanova, ten Hove, Levy & Fine, 2018
- Spirobranchus corniculatus (Grube, 1862)
- Spirobranchus latiscapus Marenzeller, 1885
- Spirobranchus americanus (Day, 1973)
- Spirobranchus arabicus Monro, 1937
- Spirobranchus baileybrockae Pillai. 2009
- Spirobranchus cariniferus (Gray, 1843)
- Spirobranchus coronatus Straughan, 1967
- Spirobranchus corrugatus Straughan, 1967
- Spirobranchus decoratus Imajima, 1982
- Spirobranchus dendropoma Mörch, 1863
- Spirobranchus eitzeni Augener, 1918
- Spirobranchus gardineri Pixell, 1913
- Spirobranchus giganteus (Pallas, 1766)
- Spirobranchus incrassatus Krøyer in Mörch, 1863
- Spirobranchus kraussii (Baird, 1865)
- Spirobranchus lamarcki (Quatrefages, 1866)
- Spirobranchus latiscapus (Marenzeller, 1885)
- Spirobranchus lima (Grube, 1862)
- Spirobranchus maldivensis Pixell, 1913
- Spirobranchus minutus (Rioja, 1941)
- Spirobranchus murrayi Pillai, 2009
- Spirobranchus nigranucha (Fischli, 1903)
- Spirobranchus paumotanus (Chamberlin, 1919)
- Spirobranchus polycerus (Schmarda, 1861)
- Spirobranchus polytrema (Philippi, 1844)
- Spirobranchus pseudopolytremus Pillai, 2009
- Spirobranchus richardsmithi Pillai, 2009
- Spirobranchus spinosus Moore, 1923
- Spirobranchus taeniatus (Lamarck, 1818)
- Spirobranchus tenhovei Pillai, 2009
- Spirobranchus tetraceros (Schmarda, 1861)
- Spirobranchus triqueter (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Spirobranchus zelandicus Pillai, 2009
- Spirobranchus zibrowii Pillai, 2009
References
- Iñiguez, Abril; Starger, Craig; Kupriyanova, Elena; Willette, Demian; Varman, Tristan; Drew, Joshua; Toha, Abdul; Maralit, Benedict; Carpenter, Kent; Barber, Paul (2013-01-01). "Phylogeography of the Christmas Tree worm Spirobranchus corniculatus (Annelida, Serpulidae) from the Coral Triangle, Australia, and Fiji". 2013 International Polychaete Conference: IPC2013: Program and Abstract Handbook: IPC International Polychaete Conference, Sydney 2013: 4-9 August 2013, Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales.
Christmas Tree [Worms] is a common name given to a group of large and colourful serpulid polychaetes of the genus Spirobranchus that are obligate symbionts of hermatypic corals commonly found in tropical and subtropical regions world-wide.
- "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Spirobranchus Blainville, 1818". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2026-04-11.
- Blainville, Henri Marie Ducrotay de. (1818). Mémoire sur la classe des Sétipodes, partie des Vers à sang rouge de M. Cuvier, et des Annélides de M. de Lamarck. Bulletin des Sciences, par la Société Philomatique de Paris. 1818: 78-85., available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4146409 (p. 79).
Bibliography
- Ruppert, Edward E.; Richard S. Fox; Robert D. Barnes (2004). Invertebrate Zoology: A Functional Evolutionary Approach (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole - Thomson Learning Inc. pp. 963. ISBN 0-03-025982-7.