Nereis brandti

 

Phylum:Annelida

Class: Polychaeta

Order: Phyllodocida

Family: Nereidae

Genus: Nereis

Species: brandti

 

Size: The normal range is 30-40 cm in length and the larger ones can grow to be 80-90cm.

 

Color: Green or brown with red, two lobed parapodia. Underside is a light yellowish-

           green tint. In the light both sides, ventral and dorsal have an iridescent sheen.

 

Range: Pacific coast from Alaska to California

 

Habitat: stiff muddy beaches, usually collecting under rocks

 

Misidentification: Nereis vexillosa which is a smaller, more common Polychaeta. It has a more green-ish blue-ish  color to it and is more commonly 15 to 20 cm long.the parapodia are not orange in this species.

 

Life history: Nereis brandti burrows in almost all levels of the mud. They eat algae and are predators of small crustaceans. When they mate, both females and males get enlarged parapodia so that they can swim to collect  around near the surface at night. Some of their sections which change into reproductive sacs, explode, sending gametes into the water which then get fertilized. The anterior portion of the worm survises for a shor time.

 

Predators: large crabs that are found on muddy beaches and sculpins

 

Suggested Reading: Seashore life of the Northern Pacific Coast by Eugene N. Kozloff

Marine Wildlife: from Puget Sound Through the inside Passage by Steve Yates

Links:

 

http://oceanlink.island.net/ask/annelida.html

http://www.nwmarinelife.com/htmlswimmers/n_branti.html

http://www.aquarium.net/0697/0697_2.shtml

http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/section/Annelida_ClassPolychaeta.asp

 

Prepared by Freya Goetz May 2002