What you see in front of you is not another beautiful underwater plant in the form of a Christmas tree, but a real animal - a tubular polychaete marine worm of the Sabellidae family, but they are better known by their colloquial name - Christmas Tree Worm. These are, of course, those that Tyrannosaurus among sea worms, but something more pleasant. "Christmas trees" are common in the tropical zone of the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans. You can find them at shallow depths among corals, in crystal clear water, poor in nutrients.

Let's take a closer look...

Spirobranchus giganteus lives in the ocean and has magnificent spirals of feathers protruding from its trumpet-like body. These feathers are remarkably similar to tiny Christmas trees. These feathers are made up of hair-like appendages of radiolae that emanate from the central spine of the worm and help the animal capture food. They feed mainly on microscopic plants and phytoplankton floating in the water. Feathers are also used for breathing. Reaching no more than 4 centimeters in height, worms can be painted in numerous colors, including orange, yellow, blue and white. They can be easily identified due to their shape, beauty and vibrant color.

The New Year Tree worm really doesn't like to move around. Once they find a good spot on living calcareous coral, they dig a hole and spend most of their lives there, sometimes emerging from home with their feathers fully extended to catch fleeting plankton. They are very sensitive to all sorts of threats and quickly hide in holes at the slightest touch, or a fleeting shadow.

They live in a lime tube. At the same time, the main building materials are calcium ions and carbonate ions, which the worm extracts from the water.

Their link is an organic component secreted from two glands located in the mouth. During growth, new parts of the tube are added in small rings that are placed on the end of the old tube.

But before starting to build its shelter, the worm larva carefully selects the corals for its home. Only weakened or dead polyps are suitable for her, because it is more convenient to build their tube houses on them.

Over time, corals grow around the tube, becoming less visible, and only "herringbones" remain on the surface.

What looks so much like a Christmas tree is gill rays that diverge into 2 separate spirals. They are both respiratory and nutritional organs ( pick up small particles of organic matter from the water).

Their color can be very diverse: bright blue, red and yellow, with shades from white to pink-blue and even black, etc. It may be that the gill rays of one worm have a different color scheme.

Another characteristic feature of these worms is the presence of a cap on the tube that tightly closes the entrance to the tube. At the slightest danger, the worm instantly draws its spiral gill rays into the tube, thereby closing the lid.

What you see in front of you is not another beautiful underwater plant in the form of a Christmas tree, but a real animal - a tubular polychaete marine worm of the Sabellidae family, but they are better known by their colloquial name - Christmas Tree Worm. These are, of course, those that Tyrannosaurus is among marine worms, but something more pleasant. "Christmas trees" are common in the tropical zone of the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans. You can find them at shallow depths among corals, in crystal clear water, poor in nutrients.


Spirobranchus giganteus lives in the ocean and has magnificent spirals of feathers protruding from its trumpet-like body. These feathers are remarkably similar to tiny Christmas trees. These feathers are made up of hair-like appendages of radiolae that emanate from the central spine of the worm and help the animal capture food. They feed mainly on microscopic plants and phytoplankton floating in the water. Feathers are also used for breathing. Reaching no more than 4 centimeters in height, worms can be painted in numerous colors, including orange, yellow, blue and white. They can be easily identified due to their shape, beauty and vibrant color.

The New Year Tree worm really doesn't like to move around. Once they find a good spot on living calcareous coral, they dig a hole and spend most of their lives there, sometimes emerging from home with their feathers fully extended to catch fleeting plankton. They are very sensitive to all sorts of threats and quickly hide in holes at the slightest touch, or a fleeting shadow.

They live in a lime tube. At the same time, the main building materials are calcium ions and carbonate ions, which the worm extracts from the water.

Their link is an organic component secreted from two glands located in the mouth. During growth, new parts of the tube are added in small rings that are placed on the end of the old tube.

But before starting to build its shelter, the worm larva carefully selects the corals for its home. Only weakened or dead polyps are suitable for her, because it is more convenient to build their tube houses on them.

Over time, corals grow around the tube, becoming less visible, and only "herringbones" remain on the surface.

What looks so much like a Christmas tree is gill rays that diverge into 2 separate spirals. They are both respiratory and nutritional organs (they catch small particles of organic substances from the water).

Their color can be very diverse: bright blue, red and yellow, with shades from white to pink-blue and even black, etc. It may be that the gill rays of one worm have a different color scheme.

Another characteristic feature of these worms is the presence of a cap on the tube that tightly closes the entrance to the tube. At the slightest danger, the worm instantly draws its spiral gill rays into the tube, thereby closing the lid.

The New Year is coming soon, so this article will be dedicated to one animal, which I completely and completely associate with this holiday. What you see in front of you is not another beautiful underwater plant in the form of a Christmas tree, but a real animal - a tubular polychaete marine worm of the Sabellidae family.

Tubular polychaete marine worm or Christmas tree worm (lat. Spirobranchus giganteus) (English Christmas tree worm)

The "Christmas Trees" are common in the tropical zone of the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans. You can find them at shallow depths among corals, in crystal clear water, poor in nutrients.

They live in a lime tube. At the same time, the main building materials are calcium ions and carbonate ions, which the worm extracts from the water.

Their link is an organic component secreted from two glands located in the mouth. During growth, new parts of the tube are added in small rings that are placed on the end of the old tube.

But before starting to build its shelter, the worm larva carefully selects the corals for its home. Only weakened or dead polyps are suitable for her, because it is more convenient to build their tube houses on them.

There are whole colonies of these worms

Over time, coral builds up around the tube, becoming less visible, and only herringbones remain on the surface.

What looks so much like a Christmas tree is gill rays that diverge into 2 separate spirals. They are both respiratory and nutritional organs ( pick up small particles of organic matter from the water).

By the way, numerous colonies of worms of the same color are very rare.

Their color can be very diverse: bright blue, red and yellow, with shades from white to pink-blue and even black, etc. It may be that the gill rays of one worm have a different color scheme.

Another characteristic feature of these worms is the presence of a cap on the tube that tightly closes the entrance to the tube. At the slightest danger, the worm instantly draws its spiral gill rays into the tube, thereby closing the lid.

Spirobranchus giganteus live differently, it all depends on the species: smaller worms - a few months, and larger species - up to 4-8 years.

The New Year is coming soon, so it will be interesting to get acquainted with a living Christmas tree that lives on the bottom of the oceans, a tubular polychaete marine worm of the Sabellidae family.

"Christmas trees" are common in the tropical zone of the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans. You can find them at shallow depths among corals, in crystal clear water, poor in nutrients.

They live in a lime tube. At the same time, the main building materials are calcium ions and carbonate ions, which the worm extracts from the water.
Their link is an organic component secreted from two glands located in the mouth. During growth, new parts of the tube are added in small rings that are placed on the end of the old tube.

But before starting to build its shelter, the worm larva carefully selects the corals for its home. Only weakened or dead polyps are suitable for her, because it is more convenient to build their tube houses on them.

Over time, corals grow around the tube, becoming less visible, and only "herringbones" remain on the surface.

What looks so much like a Christmas tree is gill rays that diverge into 2 separate spirals. They are both respiratory and nutritional organs (they catch small particles of organic substances from the water).

Their color can be very diverse: bright blue, red and yellow, with shades from white to pink-blue and even black, etc. It may be that the gill rays of one worm have a different color scheme.

There are whole colonies of these worms

By the way, numerous colonies of worms of the same color are very rare.

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Tubular polychaete marine worm or Christmas tree worm (lat. Spirobranchus giganteus)

The New Year is coming soon, so this article will be dedicated to one animal, which I completely and completely associate with this holiday. What you see in front of you is not another beautiful underwater plant in the form of a Christmas tree, but a real animal - a tubular polychaete marine worm of the Sabellidae family.

Tubular polychaete marine worm or Christmas tree worm (lat. Spirobranchus giganteus) (English Christmas tree worm)

You can find it at a shallow depth among corals, in crystal clear water, which is poor in nutrients. Worms are common in the tropical zone of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.

This is a small worm that lives in a calcareous tube. Its main building materials are calcium ions and carbonate ions, which the worm extracts from the water. Their link is an organic component secreted from two glands located in the mouth. During growth, new parts of the tube are added in small rings that are placed on the end of the old tube.

But before starting to build its shelter, the worm larva carefully selects the corals for its home. Only weakened or dead polyps are suitable for her, because it is more convenient to build their tube houses on them.

There are whole colonies of these worms

Over time, corals grow around the tube, so they become invisible, and only “herringbones” remain on the surface.

What looks so much like a Christmas tree is gill rays that diverge into 2 separate spirals. They are both respiratory and nutritional organs (they catch small particles of organic substances from the water).

Their color can be very diverse: bright blue, red and yellow, with shades from white to pink-blue and even black, etc. It may be that the gill rays of one worm have a different color scheme.

Another characteristic feature of these worms is the presence of a cap on the tube, which tightly buries the entrance to the tube. At the slightest danger, the worm instantly draws its spiral gill rays into the tube, and the lid slams shut from above.

Spirobranchus giganteus live differently, it all depends on the species: smaller worms - a few months, and larger species - up to 4-8 years.