| Alitta succinea | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Class: | Polychaeta |
| Subclass: | Aciculata |
| Order: | Phyllodocida |
| Suborder: | Nereidiformia |
| Family: | Nereididae |
| Subfamily: | Nereinae |
| Genus: | Alitta |
| Species: | Alitta succinea (Frey & Leuckart, 1847)[1] |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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See text. |
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Alitta succinea (also known as the common clam worm) is a species of marine annelid in the Nereididae family (commonly known as ragworms or sandworms). It has been recorded throughout Europe and the North West Atlantic, as well as in the Gulf of Maine and South Africa.[1]
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The common clam worm can reach up to 15 centimeters (6 inches) in length, but most specimens are smaller than this. It is brown coloured at the rear, and reddish-brown on the rest of its body. It has an identifiable head with four eyes, two sensory feelers or palps, and many tentacles The Anterior region is called as Head which consists of two segments as anterior Prostomium and posterior peristomium and the last segment known as pygidium.[2]
It is a freeswimming polychaete, scavenging on the bottom of shallow marine waters. It feeds on other worms and algae. To feed, it uses a proboscis, which has two hooks at the end, to grasp prey and draw it into its mouth. Clamworms are an important food source for bottom-feeding fish and crustaceans, though they can protect themselves by secreting a mucus substance that hardens to form a sheath around them.
During lunar phases in the spring and early summer, the clam worm undergoes "heterogenesis". Their parapodia enlarge so they can swim. The clamworms are then capable of releasing eggs and sperm. Soon after they have released their egg or sperm, they die.
Planktonic larvae develop, grow into adults and eventually sink to the bottom of the water.