Marine Life · Sedentaria · Worms

Spiral fanworms (Spirorbis sp.)

Spiral fanworms on coralline algal crust at the bottom of a rock pool. Mouille Point, Cape Town, Western Cape (2020) – iNaturalist

Minute coiled worms with spiral shells. Head with a small number of feathery filter-feeding branches and a stalked operculum that blocks the shell.

About 2 mm.

Abundant everywhere, dotting most rocks in the shallow subtidal and in pools, as well as on countless invertebrate shells.
Several species, originally placed in the genus Spirorbis but now reclassified : they are only distinguishable using microscopic details.

Two Oceans: A Guide to the Marine Life of Southern Africa (1994, 2016)
Spiral fanworms settled on the edges of a large granite limpet (Cymbula granatina). Hondeklipbaai, Northern Cape (2020).
Spiral fanworms settled on the edges of a large granite limpet (Cymbula granatina). Hondeklipbaai, Northern Cape (2020).
Large alikreukel covered in spiral fanworms (Spirorbis spp.) and pinkish barnacles. Old Woman's River, Eastern Cape (2021).
Large alikreukel (Turbo sarmaticus) covered in spiral fanworms and pinkish barnacles. Old Woman’s River, Eastern Cape (2021).

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