Basket-top Spaghetti-worm!

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I am sharing some marine worm wonder with you. But also, there’s content here that truly qualifies (forgive me) as… cool shit!

Basket-top Spaghetti-Worms build a tube AND A BASKET from bits of debris and extend their tentacles through the basket to feed. The top of the basket is less than 3 cm wide, length is up to 21 cm (species name Pista elongata).

It’s another one of our marine neighbours about which so little is known.

From Andy Lamb and Bernie Hanby’s Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest:

“The lower part of the tube, where the worm resides, is coated with shell fragments and pebbles. Is the purpose of this extravagant tube solely to camouflage and protect the worm . . . or to increase its access to food? The worm extends its long tentacles through the basket to gather food particles selectively . . . The basket-top may also function as a sieve, filtering out particles brought by currents. Elevating the tube above the rocky substrate may provide the elongate, and tree-like branchia (gills), hidden in the basket, with a good supply of oxygenated water.”

To know these little wonders exist is already life-enhancing. But then, recently, I unexpectedly got an action shot. I happened to notice one among all the splendour you see in the photo below.

I took a few photos and, upon reviewing them, noticed that, ever so briefly, there was a structure extending from the basket, and it was expelling something. There were two possibilities for what this could be: gametes (sex cells) or waste. I expected it to be the latter since it was so brief. The photos 12 seconds before and after the one you see below did NOT have this structure.

I checked with Andy Lamb, who confirmed the Basket-top Spaghetti worm was defecating (and asked to use the photo in his online book). I will spare you the poo puns. But in my little world, this does feel like a big deal. To have learned to recognize the species, be able to photograph it in high current, and maybe to be among the few who were looking closely enough to observe and share in this way.

Sincerely, I hope you are moved.

Below are more photos of Basket-top Spaghetti-worms.

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