(Johnston, 1838)
Description:
Body quite broad anteriorly.
Prostomium anteriorly weakly incised, without antenna, with or without four eyes, posteriorly with a caruncle reaching the second segment. Two long palps present. 0-4 eyes.
First notopodium without chaetae.
Anterior noto- and neuropodial postchaetal lobes triangular to finger-like, posteriorly becoming shorter. Fifth chaetiger dorsally with seven modified chaetae alternating with lanceolate chaetae; ventrally winged capillary chaetae. Modified chaetae thick and with a small secondary tooth. 7th and following neuropodia with strongly bent hooded hooks with a small distal tooth and a bigger subdistal tooth. Neuropodial capillaries present only in anterior segments. Posterior notopodia without modified capillaries or hooks.
Gills start at chaetiger 7, absent only on the last 10 or 20 segments
Pygidium with a dorsally incised funnel.
Size:
Up to 30 mm for 180 segments.
Colour:
Yellowish brown or bright yellow with darker body end.
Habitat:
Excavates tubes in limestone rock, stones, old shells and lithothamnia, with the strong modified chaetae on the 5th chaetiger. Also in brackish water.
Distribution:
Whole North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, Öresund, Baltic Sea, Indopacific, Atlantic to Mediterranean, Red Sea, Black Sea, Antarctic.