Worm for Leslie

Hi Anne - shouldn't you be off to the Bahamas or cruising somewhere in your land yacht?

It is a scale worm and I can see why you thought this might be a sea mouse - polychaete family Aphroditidae, genus Aphrodita - but the "fur" on the back are just papillae on the scales. In sea mice some of the setae are modified into very fine dense hairs that completely cover the back so the scales are hidden from view. Some species further camouflage themselves by incorporating silt & sand into the interwoven hairs. They normally live half buried in the sand or mud as they track down the smaller animals that they eat.

What you've got is a very nice picture of a scaleworm in the family Polynoidae. To know the genus I'd have to count the pairs of the scales, examine the head & setae, etc., which are a little difficult to see underwater.

Thanks for posting --

Leslie

Thanks Leslie, You're the BEST! Anne

wow, that is one really cool worm.. nice photo Anne, thanks for posting. And thanks for all the additional worm info Leslie.

Scott