Siboglinidae

Siboglinidae, also known as the beard worms, is a family of polychaete annelid worms whose members made up the former phyla Pogonophora (the giant tube worms) and Vestimentifera. They are composed of about 100 species of vermiform creatures and live in thin tubes buried in sediments at ocean depths from 100 to 10,000 m. They can also be found in association with hydrothermal vents, methane seeps, with sunken plant material or whale carcasses.

The first specimen was dredged from the waters of what is now Indonesia in 1900. These specimens were given to French zoologist Maurice Caullery, who studied them for nearly 50 years.

Anatomy

Most siboglinids are less than 1 millimetre (0.04 in) in diameter but 10–75 centimetres (3.9–29.5 in) in length. They inhabit tubular structures composed of chitin and fixed to the bottom. The tubes are often clustered together in large colonies.

The body is divided into four regions. The anterior end is called the cephalic lobe, which bears from 1 to over 200 thin branchial ciliated tentacles, each bearing tiny side branches known as pinnules. Behind this is a glandular forepart, which helps to secrete the tube. The main part of the body is the trunk, which is greatly elongated and bears various annuli, papillae, and ciliary tracts. Posterior to the trunk is the short metamerically segmented opisthosoma, bearing external paired chaetae, which apparently help to anchor the animal to the base of its tube.