We all love the colossal Shai-Hulud from the Dune series. But what if it chose a cuter, marine lifestyle rather than terrorising the invaders of a distant desert planet?
If you find a colourful feathery flower swaying gracefully in a rocky intertidal, do not be deceived by its pretty appearance. What you are seeing is just the crown of its open mouth, with the rest of its long worm-like body housed within crevices of rock or coral!
Meet the red fan worm (Protula bispiralis), a member of a group of tubeworms known as feather dusters. These worms feature a vibrant array of feather-like stems called gill filaments. Each filament helps the worm absorb oxygen from the surrounding water, while tiny hairs at the end of these filaments continuously beat like a conveyor belt, sweeping water and microscopic plankton directly toward the mouth in the center.
If this worm senses danger, it quickly retracts its crown structure and retreats into its soft tube-like body, which is covered in sediment and mucous to form a protective covering from predators.
Text by Shripad Goenka