Christmas Tree Worm Diet

The food is then passed down a food groove by ciliary tracts lines of tiny hair like extensions on the surface of cells that generate water currents to move food or mucus.

Christmas tree worm diet. Christmas tree worms are ciliary feeders which means they use cilia tiny hair like bristles on their appendages to catch food as it passes by. Like most tube worms christmas tree worms need sustained healthy feeding to survive. This somewhat specialized diet along with this species intolerance for strong direct water movement make it somewhat difficult to feed.

The christmas tree worm is purely a filter feeding species whose diet should consist of plankton foods in the currents and should be supplemented with liquid plankton based foods. They aren t very big averaging about 1 5 inches in length. These appendages are used to catch dinner floating by in the water usually microscopic plants and animals.

The common name for these worms is derived from their appearance not their habitat or diet. You won t find spirobranchus giganteus also known as the christmas tree worm eating your fir tree this year. Most of the larger species eat ciliates organic detritus and certain types of invertebrate larvae such as zooplankton and phytoplankton.