Innkeeper Worm

The Innkeeper Worm

By: Christine Briggs & Megan Tuohy

The Innkeeper Worm.

Reproduction

Scientific Name:

Urechis caupo

Phylum: Echiura

Order: Xenopneusta

Family: Urechidae

Found Where:

Mud flats & soft sands.

The innkeeper worm has a sexual reproduction, the males and the females release sperm and egg into the water where fertilization occurs. In some cases, but very few, the fertilization occurs within the female. Once fertilized the worm grows to become an unsegmented larvae that are free-swimming and covered with cilia. They drift with other free-swimming organisms for three months until developed into small worms and settle on the bottom of the ocean.

Is It Just Me Or Does This Worm Look Like...?

And Now I Understand Why Its Nickname Is The Penis Worm..

Habitat & Feeding

Bibliography

Websites:

Pictures:

Predators

Ecological Role

The Innkeeper Worm lives in large, U-shaped burrows in sand, mud and other soft sediment.

Fat Innkeeper Worms are eaten by bat rays, leopard sharks and otters, who suck or dig them out of their burrows.

Food, shelter and running water pumped by the innkeeper worm attract guests to its burrow.

Some, like the arrow goby, check in and out quickly; others, like pea crabs and scale worms, take up permanent residency.

The innkeeper isn't bothered by these guests, but doesn't benefit, either.

"Echiura." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Aug. 2014. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echiura>.

"Fat Innkeeper Worm." , Coastal Wetlands, Invertebrates, Urechis Caupo at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. N.p., 2013. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. <http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/invertebrates/fat-innkeeper-worm>.

"Elkhorn Slough Invertebrates: Fat Innkeeper Worm." Elkhorn Slough Invertebrates: Fat Innkeeper Worm. N.p., 2013. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. <http://www.elkhornslough.org/sloughlife/inverts/fatinnkeeperworm.htm>.

Murch, Andy. Leapord Shark . N.d. Photograph. GoogleWeb. 9 Apr 2014. <http://marinebio.org/upload/Tria semifasciata/1.jpg>.

The Innkeeper Worm . N.d. Photograph. GoogleWeb. 9 Apr 2014. <http://storage.montereybayaquarium.org/storage/animals/520x260/fat_innkee

Sea Otters . N.d. Photograph. GoogleWeb. 9 Apr 2014. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Sea_otter_pair2.jpg>.

Bat Ray . N.d. Photograph. GoogleWeb. 9 Apr 2014. <http://www.stingray411.com/ content/uploads/2010/07/BatRay_A.jpg>.

Pea Crabs. N.d. Photograph. GoogleWeb. 9 Apr 2014. <http://www.beachwatchers.wsu.edu/ezidweb/animals/images/pinnexapair.jpg

Arrow Goby

. N.d. Photograph. GoogleWeb. 9 Apr 2014. <http://www.francescoricciardi.co content/uploads/2011/08/110728_2525.jpg>.

Feeding

To feed, it pulsates its body and drives water through its lair.

Then it produces a conical mucus net that lines the burrow as water is sucked in.

Edible particles are caught on the net, and after some time the worm slowly eats the net and all the edible matter sticking to it.