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