Author: Lluís Salom Vicens

 

Scientific name: Protula tubularia

 

Place of photography: Cala Tuent, Mallorca

 

The species of the photograph is Protula tubularia, a kind of polychaete, and was photographed in Cala Tuent, on the island of Mallorca. It is a common species.

Polychaetes are the largest and most diverse group of annelids with more than 8,000 described species, almost all marine. This species in particular is sessile (it lives fixed in the substrate) and is joined by a calcareous tube. This tube comes from the sand particles that it filters with the beautiful gill plume. Said beautiful presents in the anterior area. The red spots that can be seen in the beauty are eye spots.

 

It inhabits areas of the sub-coast and circalittoral of shady rocky bottoms, with a moderate hydrodynamics, although they can also be observed in meadows of Posidonia oceanica. They serve as bioindicators, since they are found in areas where water is clean.

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