During this action the tube is diagonally or vertically oriented in the sediment with the tail end projecting from the surface. The subsurface feeding void is in contact with the surface through a small channel, which limits the activity of the worm to the upper 10 cm of the sediment. U-shaped burrows are formed when the animal lives in organic-rich, oxygen-poor, fine sediment. Higher motility is associated with well oxygenated, coarse sediment, relatively poor in organics. The gut contents suggest that the species selectively ingests mi [details]

Description: Short, thick, tube-living bristle worm up to 50 mm long. The head has a special form and is covered at the top by golden bristles (digging function) and tentacle membranes and is furthermore characterised by two pairs of carmine gills. The tube is constructed of medium-sized sand grains and is buried in the sediment with the worm upside down. [details]

Distribution: Pectinaria koreni is widely spread in the Belgian part of the North Sea in both periods. A higher frequency of occurrence was nevertheless observed in the near-coastal zone, especially in the 1994-2001period. In both periods high densities of P. koreni were observed (1976-1986 period: maximum 1,100 ind./m2; 1994-2001 period: maximum 350 ind./m2). [details]

Distribution: The species shows clear patches with high densities in the South-eastern part of the Oyster Ground, north of the Dutch Wadden islands. Areas with elevated densities are also found in the central part of the Oyster Ground and north-west of the island of Texel. L. koreni is almost absent from the more southern part of the Southern Bight and the northern part of the Oyster Ground. lt is completely missing in the brackish waters, although reports suggest it tolerates low salinities. [details]

Habitat: L. koreni lives in many types of sediment, ranging from silt to coarse sand. It is most abundant in mixed bottoms of fine sand and silt. The species is also found in black anoxic sediments and between oysters or together with the polychaete Sabellaria (Hartmann-Schröder, 1971; Holthe, 1986; lrlinger et al., 1991; Rees & Dare, 1993). [details]

Habitat: Pectinaria koreni displays a clear preference for fine sediments: the finer the sediment, the higher the relative occurrence (maximum > 40%). The species is nevertheless also found in sediments with a median grain size up to 500 μm. Although the species occurs in sediments with strongly varying mud contents, P. koreni is not found in sediments characterised by high mud contents or by absence of mud. [details]

Morphology: This species has a short, conical body, tapering towards the tail. The truncated head bears a characteristic row of large golden spines and a tuft of filiform tentacles. The worm is up to 50 mm long and divided into 14 segments. lts characteristic tube is slightly curved and composed of agglutinated fine sand grains. lt is open at both ends. The worm is colourless to pink with red gills (Hartmann-Schröder, 1971; Holthe, 1986; Fish & Fish, 1989; Hayward & Ryland, 1990). [details]