'Curly' Worm ;)

Please would anyone be able to assist me with an ID of this worm. Initially I thought it was a nudibranch as it was so pretty, but on closer inspection it would appear to be a segmented worm.

Approx 1cm in length, not shy. Found on the underside of a piece of loose sponge in a turtle grass bed in approx 30ft water.

Your help is greatly appreciated!Picture

Kay Wilson,

St. Vincent.

Cool! that's a particular favorite of mine. It's a polychaete genus called Amblyosyllis. The curly-q's are dorsal cirri, one pair per segment. They appear to be sponge symbionts but whether they feed on the sponge or not I don't know. Ellen Muller's got a good pic of another species in the genus. This one has it's dorsal cirri mostly uncurled.

Thanks for the kudos, Leslie . The first black and white one I found was on the same sponge two nights in a row. All the others that I have seen were spawning in the water column and attracted to my dive light. They are amazing looking little worms!