| Paranemertes peregrina | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Nemertea |
| Class: | Enopla |
| Order: | Hoplonemertea |
| Family: | Neesiidae |
| Genus: | Paranemertes |
| Species: | P. peregrina |
| Binomial name | |
| Paranemertes peregrina Coe, 1901 | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Paranemertes peregrina is a species of Nemertea, or ribbon worm, in the family Neesiidae. [1]
P. peregrina is usually dark dorsally, with a brown or purple coloration. It appears peach-colored due to its lighter ventral coloration. [2] Their distinctive external features and spiral-shaped stylets make them easily recognizable. [3] These stylets feature spirally wrapped grooves on their shafts that grow within vacuoles. [4]
They, like annelids and mollusks, have spiral cleavage and trochophore larvae. In its developmental stage, P. peregrina progresses from swimming to crawling in around ten days. [5] Nemerteans often have an Anoplan or Enoplan morphology, with P. peregrina having an Enoplan morphology. [6]
They are observed in the Pacific Ocean from the Aleutian Islands to Ensenada, Baja California. [7] [8] [9] This species can be found in intertidal habitats characterized by both muddy and rocky bays. [9]
The species feeds exclusively on live or dead polychaetes. [10] Digestion occurs both within and outside of cells. Food is broken down in an acidic environment by specific cells using enzymes such as peptidases, carbohydrates, and lipases. After the meal has been partially digested, it is taken by cells and thoroughly broken down with more enzymes, causing the pH to shift from acidic to alkaline. [11]
The worm's movements across intertidal flats in search of prey inspired the specific name "peregrina". [12] [13] The feeding process starts when its head recoils upon making contact with prey, as the species does not locate prey through distance chemoreception but rather through direct contact. It then involves the exposure of the proboscis, which wraps around the prey. This action results in the temporary paralysis or death of the prey. Finally, the prey is swallowed by sucking through the help of muscles surrounding the mouth. It subsequently releases waste within a time frame ranging from 12 to 33 hours after consuming food. [9] The feeding process lasts for seven to eight minutes upon successful contact. Following this, P. peregrina retraces its path to the burrow, relying on the mucus trail it left behind. [14]
Nemertea is a phylum of animals also known as ribbon worms or proboscis worms, consisting of 1300 known species. Most ribbon worms are very slim, usually only a few millimeters wide, although a few have relatively short but wide bodies. Many have patterns of yellow, orange, red and green coloration. The foregut, stomach and intestine run a little below the midline of the body, the anus is at the tip of the tail, and the mouth is under the front. A little above the gut is the rhynchocoel, a cavity which mostly runs above the midline and ends a little short of the rear of the body. All species have a proboscis which lies in the rhynchocoel when inactive but everts to emerge just above the mouth to capture the animal's prey with venom. A highly extensible muscle in the back of the rhynchocoel pulls the proboscis in when an attack ends. A few species with stubby bodies filter feed and have suckers at the front and back ends, with which they attach to a host.
Lophotrochozoa is a clade of protostome animals within the Spiralia. The taxon was established as a monophyletic group based on molecular evidence. The clade includes animals like annelids, molluscs, bryozoans, and brachiopods.
The bootlace worm is a species of ribbon worm and one of the longest known animals, with specimens up to 55 m (180 ft) long being reported. Its mucus is highly toxic.
The madreporite is a light colored calcareous opening used to filter water into the water vascular system of echinoderms. It acts like a pressure-equalizing valve. It is visible as a small red or yellow button-like structure, looking like a small wart, on the aboral surface of the central disk of a sea star or sea urchin or the oral surface of Ophiuroidea. Close up, it is visibly structured, resembling a "madrepore" colony. From this, it derives its name.
Anopla has long been used as name for a class of marine worms of the phylum Nemertea, characterized by the absence of stylets on the proboscis, the mouth being below or behind the brain, and by having separate openings for the mouth and proboscis. The other long used class of Nemertea are the Enopla. Although Anopla is a paraphyletic grouping, it is used in almost all scientific classifications. Anopla is divided into two orders: Palaeonemertea and Heteronemertea.
Enopla is one of the classes of the worm phylum Nemertea, characterized by the presence of a peculiar armature of spines or plates in the proboscis.
The black sea nettle, sometimes informally known as the black jellyfish, is a species of jellyfish that can be found in the waters of the Pacific Ocean off North America. Its range is thought to be from Monterey Bay in the north, down to southern Baja California and Mexico, though there are reports of sightings as far north as British Columbia. The initial acknowledgment of the species occurred in 1997, after large groups were found on the Pacific coast.
Aeolidia papillosa, known as the common grey sea slug, is a species of nudibranch in the family Aeolidiidae.
The Spiralia are a morphologically diverse clade of protostome animals, including within their number the molluscs, annelids, platyhelminths and other taxa. The term Spiralia is applied to those phyla that exhibit canonical spiral cleavage, a pattern of early development found in most members of the Lophotrochozoa.
Parborlasia corrugatus is a proboscis worm in the family Cerebratulidae. This species of proboscis or ribbon worm can grow to 2 metres in length, and lives in marine environments down to 3,590 metres (11,780 ft). This scavenger and predator is widely distributed in cold southern oceans.
Paratomy is a form of asexual reproduction in animals where the organism splits in a plane perpendicular to the antero-posterior axis and the split is preceded by the "pregeneration" of the anterior structures in the posterior portion. The developing organisms have their body axis aligned, i.e., they develop in a head to tail fashion.
Prostoma jenningsi is a species of ribbon worm known only from one site near Croston, Lancashire. It was described in 1971, and is believed to be the county's only endemic species. It grows up to 20 mm (0.8 in) long, with 4–6 black eyespots, and has a long eversible proboscis.
Gononemertes australiensis is a parasitic ribbon worm. It lives commensally in the ascidian Pyura pachydermatina found in the sublittoral waters of the New Zealand. G. australiensis was found in specimens of P. pachydermatina collected in Sydney harbor. These worms were found specifically in the atrium of P. pachydermatina. It is dioecious and has several gonads. Each of its gonads produce several oocytes while the male worms carry testes along its parenchyma. Fertilization is external.
Malacobdellidae is a monogeneric family within the phylum Nemertea. It is included with the order Hoplonemertea within the class Enopla.
Oroperipatus eisenii is a species of velvet worm in the family Peripatidae. Females of this species have 27 to 29 pairs of legs, usually 28; males have 23 to 26. Females range from 30 mm to 57 mm in length, while males range from 20 mm to 23 mm. The type locality is found in Brazil and central Mexico.
Nephromyces is a genus of apicomplexans that are symbionts of the ascidian genus Molgula.
Tubulanus annulatus, commonly known as the football jersey worm, is a species of ribbon worm in the phylum Nemertea. It ranges across the northern Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, being present from the lower shore down to about 40 m (130 ft), on sand, gravel and other habitats.
Carcinonemertes errans is a ribbon worm in the family Carcinonemertidae. It lives in symbiosis with the Dungeness crab, consuming the crab's developing eggs. In 1980 it was implicated in the collapse of the Dungeness crab fishery in central California.
Louise Hoyt Gregory was an American zoologist and college professor. She was acting dean of Barnard College in 1945 and 1946, and associate dean from 1934 to her retirement in 1949.
Argonemertes dendyi is a species of enoplan; one of just twelve known species of land-dwelling ribbon worms.