[Annelida] Mystery worm rock Sabellariidae?

[gambimc from szn.it]

Hi all polychaete lovers, hope you all had a nice New Year's Eve....,  
following the message by Emeritus Prof. Jamieson, I also had the same  
impression of Sabellaridae reefs, which are locally abundant in very  
shallow waters of the Mediterranean...
all the very best and see you all in Lecce soon at the 10th IPC.

Maria Cristina Gambi

  Citando Barrie Jamieson <bgmjamieson from uq.edu.au>:

> They very much resemble tubes formed by Sabellaridae (Polychaeta). I  
>  understand that Phragmatopoma forms considerable reefs in American   
> waters.
> Regards,
> Barrie Jamieson
>
> Barrie Jamieson B.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc.
> Emeritus Professor
> Department of Zology and Entomology
> School of Integrative Biology
> University of Queeensland
> Brisbane
> Queensland 4072
> Australia
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: annelida-bounces from oat.bio.indiana.edu on behalf of Spinnaker
> Sent: Tue 12/29/2009 1:42 AM
> To: annelida from magpie.bio.indiana.edu
> Subject: [Annelida] Mystery worm rock
>
> Hello,
>
>
>
> I'm hoping for some help with a mystery rock found on a southern North
> Carolina (USA) beach fronting the Atlantic Ocean (image attached).
>
>
>
> A preliminary guess is that they are Serpulid colonies, but the form seems a
> little strange for that.
>
>
>
> The rocks are occasionally found washed ashore on the sandy beach. They have
> been surf-worn, and are in rounded, flattened masses 5-30 cm in greatest
> diameter. Their varied colors (black, gray, orange-brown, light tan suggest
> that they have been buried in differing sediments.
>
>
>
> Close examination reveals that the rocks are highly porous and composed of a
> mass of tubes. The tubes appear calcareous, with no constituent sand grains
> visible through a loupe. The tubes are eroded open on the rock's exterior,
> and are circular, oval, or indented-oval in cross section, 1-3 mm in
> diameter.
>
>
>
> I have numerous higher resolution images if needed.
>
>
>
> Many thanks for any help with this puzzle.
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
>
>
> Blair Witherington
>
>
>



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