Acoel
worms
awaiting identification
Order Acoela
updated Oct 2016
Where
seen? These tiny flattened worms are often seen on other
animals, usually cnidarians
such as hard corals
of various species and corallimorphs.
What are aceol flatworms? They
are unsegmented worms that belong to Class Acoela. Some put them in
Phylum Platyhelminthes like the other larger flatworms.
Features: 1cm long or less. Often
circular in shape and brown, sometimes with a white stripe or short
white line or a yellow spot. The brown colour comes from the symbiotic
algae in their bodies. Many species reproduce asexually by fragmentation.
What do they eat? It is believed
that they graze on the edible bits that get trapped in the mucus produced
by the host animals that they are found on.
What eats them? Among their predators
are tailed
slugs (Family Aglajidae).
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A hard coral thickly covered
with acoel worms.
Pulau Semakau, Oct 11
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Acoel
worms on Singapore shores |
References
- Gosliner,
Terrence M., David W. Behrens and Gary C. Williams. 1996. Coral
Reef Animals of the Indo-Pacific: Animal life from Africa to Hawaii exclusive of the vertebrates
Sea Challengers. 314pp.
- Newman, Leslie
and Lester Cannon. 2003. Marine
Flatworms: The World of Polyclads.
CSIRO Publishing. 97pp.
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