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Spirobranchus giganteus

Christmas-tree Worm

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Worm in coral colony with tentacles extended, Rarotonga	44KB
Image:	Worm in coral colony with tentacles extended, Rarotonga	48KB
Image:	Worm in coral colony with tentacles extended, Palmerston	33KB
Image:	Worm in coral colony with tentacles extended, Palmerston	32KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Christmas-tree Worm

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE circumtropical, including se.Polynesia and Hawai‘i.

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine, near-shore, reef-flat, lagoons and Seaward reef-slope

KEY FEATURES: The tentacles form twin, cone-like spirals. The colour are bright and may be any of the rainbow colours. The calcareous tube is white, and the operculum yellow.

Enlarged Image of 'Spirobranchus giganteus'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Spirobranchus giganteus (Pallas, 1766)
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ANNELIDA; POLYCHAETA; SERPULIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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