(Huxley, 1855)
Description:
Body small, thorax of 5-10 chaetigers, abdomen of 13-27 segments.
Operculum absent. Four pairs of radioli with swollen tips and scalloped margins with about 13 pairs of tightly packed lenticulate units. Basal membrane absent. Palps cylindrical, ciliated.
Collar not notched in the centre of the ventral margin.
Collar chaetae of two types, capillary and geniculate, the latter with a toothed fin and finely serrated blade. Fin with all teeth of approximately the same size. Thoracic chaetae finely toothed capillaries. Apomatus-chaetae starting at chaetiger 3, usually 2 per bundle. Thorax and abdomen separated by segments without chaetae. Abdominal neuropodial chaetae geniculate, finely denticulate. Thoracic uncini rectangular with 2-3 longitudinal rows of small teeth and one large tooth. Abdominal uncini smaller, with more rows of teeth.
Pygidium with 2 small papillae.
Size:
Up to 5-7 mm long for 30-60 segments.
Tube:
White, thin, smooth or with fine growth rings; they commonly make dense aggregations in the form of a rope-like mesh with tunnels. Up to 0.5 mm diameter.
Colour:
Red or orange coloured, posterior often greenish. Crown transparent or basis reddish.
Habitat:
On rock and shells, lower shore, but mainly sublittoral in less sheltered areas. Often on Himanthalia .
Distribution:
World-wide, English Channel, northern and southern North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat and northern Öresund.