70 



SEA-SHORE LIFE 



Fig. 42 ; Dead Scallop Shell covered 



with tubes of the Shell Worm. 



Long Island Sound. 



face of rocks, dead shells, etc. Often a number of these calcareons 

 worm -tubes are seen clnstered together, as in our illustration. 

 When undisturbed the worm protrudes its beautiful feathered 



gills, which resemble a little passion- 

 flower projecting from the mouth of 

 the tube. These gills are variously 

 colored in different individuals, some 

 being purplish-brown banded with 

 Avliite and yellow, while others are 

 yellowish-green, orange or lemon- 

 yellow. At the least disturbance 

 such as a shock, or a shadow, the 

 gills are instantly withdrawn into the 

 stony tube, and the opening stopped 

 by a horny disk called the " opercu- 

 lum." These worms are rarely more 

 than three inches long, and one- 

 eighth of an inch wide. The body tapers gradually to the posterior 

 end. In place of the gill-feet of the active worms, we find only a 

 row of little bristles down each side, for these worms are unable to 

 leave their tubes, and the legs which their remote ancestors pos- 

 sessed have degenerated. There are no jaws, but the worm feeds 

 upon minute organisms which are washed into its mouth by the 

 movements of its feathery gills. 



The Sea Flower, fSpirohmnelnis triconiisj, is a beautiful ani- 

 mal, related to our shell-worm, Init is larger and secretes its tube 

 upon the surface of large coral heads, so that the tube becomes cov- 

 ered by the coral, leaving the opening still at the surface. This 

 opening is protected by a sharp spine, and is closed by the opercu- 

 lum of the wo]-m when it withdraws its gills. When expanded 

 these gills resemble a beautiful pink or purple passion-flower, 

 about three-quarters of an inch wide. If a shadow^ passes over the 

 "flower," however, the gills are instantly withdrawn into the tube. 

 The worm is abundant off the Florida coast, West Indies and 

 Bahamas. 



The Acorn Worm, f Balanoglossus koiralevskiij. This remark- 

 able worm-shaped creature is found in shallow Avater, below low 

 tide level, from Massachusetts Bay to the Carolinas. It lives 



