Marine Species Identification Portal : Poecilochaetus serpens

Allen, 1904

Description:
Body slender, cylindrical, slightly flattened posteriorly and covered by papillae.
Prostomium, round and smal, with a single frontal antenna, two dorsal and two ventral eyes and nuchal organs as three separate, long processes; the lateral ones reaching segment 4, the median one reaching segment 7. Paired grooved palps present.
First segment with anteriorly directed parapodia bearing a reduced notopodial postchaetal lobe and a big cirriform neuropodial postchaetal lobe and very long capillary chaetae.
Parapodia biramous, with lateral sense-organs between branches and parapodial lobes flask-shaped or tapering (P. serpens-parapodium). Chaetae are capillaries and also in neuropodia 2 and 3 a few spines. Feathery chaetae starting at segment 17. Last 16-17 notopodia with straight and curved hooks (P. serpens-chaetae).
Gills start at segment 21.
Pygidium with two long and two short cirri (P. serpens-posterior end).

Size:
Up to 55 mm for 110 segments.

Colour:
Anterior part red or pinkish, posterior part dark green to black with white spots.

Habitat:
On all kinds of substrata, from eulittoral to 1400 m.

Distribution:
North Sea to Bay of Kiel, Indian Ocean, red Sea, North Atlantic to Mediterranean.

Poecilochaetus serpens