Ever since I first saw this little (up to 15-25cmish) worm on the shore I have always wanted to paint it – and I really enjoyed painting this piece.
It has these long tentacles it uses for feeding and these gorgeous external gills (the smaller “tentacles”), with a very vibrant orange body. It is one of the weirder but also pretty (although this is highly subjective I suppose) species on the shore.
There is not much to be said about it though really. They form tubes in the sedmiment from sand and gritty materials where it lives and feeds from. They can be found on lower shores and subtidally across the country. In the snippet of video I have of one it was removed from its tube for identification purposes, and is moving about in search of some sediment to make it not so naked.
I don’t think there is much need to ramble on anymore, if you ever come across this species you’ll hopefully know what it is – because I had no clue what it was when I first saw it. I also hope you like the artwork too, I had fun painting this one (less fun cutting around the tentacles for the white background though).
Happy Rockpooling,
Marinemumbles x