Hediste diversicolor

Food -seeking Ragworm

The up to 20 cm long dazzling Ragworm ( Nereis ( Neanthes ) diversicolor ) belongs to the phylum Annelida. Due to the bundle of bristles to the paired end feet counting it to the class of the polychaetes, in contrast to the earthworm, the one of the Wenigborstern. The polychaetes are one of the most biologically diverse marine groups at all.

The body of the ragworm consists of up to 120 bristle-bearing segments which each have two pairs of end legs. At the top he has two eyes, eight head - tentacles ( cirrus ) and two palps. For hunting and food intake, the Nereids have an eversible proboscis ( proboscis ) which carries two occupied with 5-8 teeth jaw. The jaw also contributes still a number of free teeth, the so-called paragnaths. The dazzling ragworms are quite variable in their coloration. Often, they are green - yellow with reddish shades. On the back you can see clearly shine through the central blood vessel and can watch the pulsing of the red blood pigment well.

The Ragworm lives in the North and Baltic Sea, the Channel, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean where he builds branched passages in the sand and silt of the seabed. He inhabits the temporarily dry falling tide zone ( watts).

Ragworms are omnivores and an important food for fish and seabirds. Especially in the marine and Hochseeangelei are the large Nereis virens and Nereis diversicolor Nereids popular fishing bait. In farms in England and the Netherlands ragworms are grown commercially. Due to their size and relatively good availability of the ragworms are interesting research objects for the physiology and physiological evolution of marine invertebrates.

Another member of the genus is the brown Ragworm ( Nereis pelagica ).