Marine Species Identification Portal : Diurodrilus minimus

Remane, 1925

Description:
Body short and broad with seven segments.
Prostomium ovoid. Eyes and appendages absent. Four bundles of cilia at the anterior part of the prostomium.
Trunk with indistinct constrictions. Posterior end with a minute median cone and two lateral forked adhesive organs, the two toes of which are equal in size and relatively long; course of canals of adhesive glands inside the toes obvious.
Sensory cilia present laterally along the body and posteriorly on the adhesive organs.

Size:
Up to 250-374 µm (maximum 450 µm); width about 65 µm.

Colour:
Transparent.

Habitat:
Fine to coarse sand with shell gravel in the sublittoral; lower parts of intertidal sand beaches.

Distribution:
North Sea, Skagerrak (Swedish west coast), Irish Sea, English Channel, Baltic Sea, French Atlantic coast (Arcachon), Northern Norway (Tromsö), Mediterranean.

Diurodrilus minimus