Serpula

Serpula (also known as calcareous tubeworm, serpulid tubeworm, fanworm, or plume worm) is a genus of sessile, marine annelid tube worms that belongs to the Serpulidae family. Serpulid worms are very similar to tube worms of the closely related sabellid family, except that the former possess a cartilaginous operculum that occludes the entrance to their protective tube after the animal has withdrawn into it. The most distinctive feature of worms of the Serpula genus is their colorful fan-shaped "crown". The crown, used by these animals for respiration and alimentation, is the structure that is most commonly seen by scuba divers and other casual observers.

Taxonomy

Following is a brief description of the cladistics and taxonomic classification of Serpula:

Serpula (fungus)

Serpula is a genus of fungi in the family Serpulaceae.

Taxonomy and evolution

The term was originally defined by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon as a section of the genus Merulius in 1801. British botanist Samuel Frederick Gray raised it to genus status in his 1821 work The Natural Arrangement of British Plants. The name is derived from the Latin verb serpěre "to creep". Synonyms include Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link's 1809 Xylophagous, Christian Hendrik Persoon's 1825 Xylomyzon, Narcisse Théophile Patouillard's 1874 Gyrophora, and Patouillard's 1897 Gyrophana.

Serpula forms a clade with at least two other closely related genera, Austropaxillus and Gymnopaxillus, the three composing the family Serpulaceae. It is thought that the common ancestor was saprotrophic,and that ancestor to the latter two genera became mycorrhizal. Using molecular clock analysis, the split between Austropaxillus and Serpula has been estimated to have occurred about 34.9 mya, roughly coinciding with the separation of South America and Australia from Antarctica.