Nereis virens
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| Sandworm | ||||||||||||||
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| Nereis virens Sars, 1835 |
Nereis virens is a polychaete worm of the family Nereidae, and can be known as sandworm or King Ragworm.
Sandworms make up a large part of the live seabait industry. "Sandworming", or the harvesting of sandworms from mudflats, employs over 1,000 people in Maine. The population of sandworms has diminished greatly over the past few years due in large part to overharvesting before the worms are able to "spawn" (or reproduce) again.
Sandworms have many distinguishable traits. They often reach great lengths, sometimes exceeding four feet. They have many small legs that run along both sides of their body (not technically "legs", but referring to the highly vascularized parapodia which are used for movement and act as the annelid's primary respiratory surfaces; the parapodia can be thought of as kinds of external gills that are also used for locomotion)). They also have blue heads with two large pincer teeth. They have been known to bite humans on occasion.
They eat seaweed and many microorganisms found in saltwater.
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