weird worm/barnacle thing malta

Hi this photo was taken by my buddy during the day in about 10m of water at Zurrieq in Malta.

Overall size was around 15cm with each 'arm' being 2-3cm. What im assuming are the feeding 'feelers' apparently extended and retracted every two seconds (like a barnacle)

the photos are heavily edited but apparently the colours are fairly accurate.

any ideas?

Not seen that one myself. My guess would be the barnacle Scalpellum scalpellum.

Alex

Thanks alex but scalpellum scalpellum seems to have a harder outer shell - these ones seem soft to the touch

couldn't find any I.D. even on the debelius book for inverts of the Med and I dived the same site the following day and couldnt find any more so I guess we'll never know

Striped goose barnacle, Conchoderma virgatum. It's typically pelagic & will attach to many different things including animals like the sea snake in this photo by lantanatx http://www.flickr.com/photos/lantanatx/243...in/photostream/

great Leslie, spot on as usual and poor snake...