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Bristle Worm Research Paper

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Bristle worms are a type of worm that is in the group of segmented worms. They are in the Phylum Annelida. The scientific name of the bristle worm is Polychaete. These worms “rule the sea”. They’re at least 10,000 different species of bristle worms that live everywhere in the sea. They can be in open ocean, coral reefs, or by deep hydrothermal vents. The bristle worm reproduces both sexually and asexually. They produce sexually by releasing an egg in the water and then fertilize it with sperm. They reproduce asexually by budding. The bristle worm possesses toxic bristles on their bodies that can inflict a sting. Bristle worms are typically introduced into an aquarium by hitchhiking in on live rock, so taking the time to inspect all new pieces of live rock for these animals before placing it into your aquarium is the first step in preventing an infestation. …show more content…

On the other hand most are freely roaming in shallow waters. This worm has a very unique body layout as well they all have a mouth and an anus, but they have several hearts. They can get to around 10 feet long and have toxic bristles on their sides. That is the basic body structure of these worms but none of them have the same, these are some of the most diverse creatures to crawl on this planet. Bristle worms are adapted to survive they have hard bristles make the worms difficult to swallow. They can also go 96 hours without oxygen, that is roughly 4 days. Polychaetes aren’t always found in tubes or on the seafloor. Nearly 400 bristle worm species have been documented in relationships with other

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