Little Worms - In Sponge. Cayman Islands

Photographed these little chaps today. Look like polychaetes to me?

Very small, living in sponge.

This is whole image - so can post crop if needed.

Alex

Hi Alex,

Yes some type of polychaete, When we collected the shrimp that habitates along with these, ( http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=44462) we included a worm or two as well. Last we heard from Leslie, quite some time ago, it was still under investigation.

all the best

Cindy

Thanks Cindy!

Leslie was out of commission for a while & didn't do much for anyone, even me. :-(

The worms belong to the genus Haplosyllis. Once upon a time they were all called Haplosyllis spongicola (the species name means "living on sponges"). Now they've been divided into a number of different genera. Some associate with only 1 species of sponge while others are less particular about who they live with. Cindy & her partners got some excellent photos of the worm & white-foot shrimp. I don't remember which species they photographed - have to go back to my notes for that.

Thanks Leslie.