Mystery Invertabrate ID

Help Leslie,

A dive buddy found this today in West Palm Beach, Fl. crawling on the sand. The animal would stretch out from about 2 inches to about 4 inches. It appeared to have two tiny stalks on one end on top, and had an opening on one end like a sea cucumber. It was green, red and purple, and was soft and bumpy. Is it a baby sea cucumber? Thanks, Anne

I'm going to guess its a Sipuncula... we have Sipuncula's here on the west coast, although they look a little different...Leslie, am I right?

Scott

Sipuncula is a good guess. I wish someone with more Caribbean experience would jump in here!

Sipuncula is a good guess. I wish someone with more Caribbean experience would jump in here!

Thanks Leslie and Scott,

The little critter had us all stumped!

I agree - it's a sibunculid right? Aka peanut worm!

Cheers

James

I agree - it's a sibunculid right? Aka peanut worm!

 

Cheers

James

Thanks James, I have reviewed all my photos of the animal, and looked at online resources, and I'm sure that's what the animal is. Now that we know what it is, we will be on the lookout for more. Thanks, Anne

Hi Anne,

Three from yesterday and the one I told you about from Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. Both were in less than two meters of water. Note that the one from the med, last image has a longer body with an area much like a tail and was much longer when the tail was extended. It was however able to move the expanded area to any point in its body.

Phil

Hi Anne,

 

Three from yesterday and the one I told you about from Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. Both were in less than two meters of water. Note that the one from the med, last image has a longer body with an area much like a tail and was much longer when the tail was extended. It was however able to move the expanded area to any point in its body.

 

Phil

Great photos, Phil, I sent you some web sites off line .... with everything you need to know about Peanut worms! (I think we were like first graders finding a new bug on the playground yesterday when you found it.) What fun.

Okay, everyone hold your horses. Phil's last two shots show characters which mean it can only be an echiuroid: #3 shows a pair of hooks which are found in all echiuroids & #4 shows part of the forked proboscis which is found in family Bonelliidae. Unfortunately these aren't in Humann & DeLoach. There's a decent image of a related species Bonellia viridis at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Bo...29_PC301461.JPG

Hi Leslie,

The first three images were taken yesterday in the Lake Worth Lagoon, Palm Beach County Florida. The last shot was taken in Calpe Spain, in the Mediterranean. Your attachment looks much like the one from the Med.

I don't think they are the same animal.

Phil

So your animal from the Mediterranean may well be Bonellia viridis. Whatever the one from Florida is, at least we know it's an echuroid.

So your animal from the Mediterranean may well be Bonellia viridis. Whatever the one from Florida is, at least we know it's an echuroid.

Hi Leslie,

My photos clearly show the pair of "hooks" also...glad to know what it is (but "Peanut" worm sounded so cute!)

Cheers, Anne

My photos clearly show the pair of "hooks" also...glad to know what it is (but "Peanut" worm sounded so cute!)

Anne,

Echiurans are also known as spoon worms and tongue worms. Not as cute as peanut worms, but you might prefer to use those common names.

Anne,

 

Echiurans are also known as spoon worms and tongue worms. Not as cute as peanut worms, but you might prefer to use those common names.

Thanks, "Spoon" worms it is! Anne