Wildlife of The Solway Firth [91] The Estuary Ragworm
Wildlife of The Solway Firth [91]
The Estuary Ragworm (Hediste diversicolor)
by Mark Vollers
Worldwide there are hundreds of species of marine segmented worms and classifying them all is still an ongoing debate!
The estuary ragworm most sea anglers are familiar with is certainly present in The Solway Firth and other estuaries around the UK, living in ‘U’ shaped burrows in the muddy sand, growing to a maximum of about twelve centimetres.
Their body is divided into as many as 200 segments, each with a pair of short bristly limbs which are perfect for wriggling through the mud and on occasion enabling them to swim freely in the water column.
“Watch out, if you try handling a ragworm, they are capable of giving you a nip.”
Watch out, if you try handling a ragworm, they are capable of giving you a nip using a pair of hard pincer-like jaws (paragnaths) which they use to grab hold of and tear up their food!
Ragworm will feed on detritus, plant matter and filter feed for plankton so are true omnivores. They ‘fish’ for the latter by setting out a net of mucous in front of their burrow, drawing water across it by undulating body movements, then finally swallowing everything.
Reproduction takes place only once during the Winter months at the end of their lifespan which is between one and three years. The female signals her readiness to mate by means of scent circulated from within her burrow, attracting one or more males who will then release their sperm to be sucked in at the entrance. The male will die soon after, the female later on when the hundreds of eggs have hatched into larvae in her burrow and dispersed far and wide with the tides.
Visit the Lake District Coast Aquarium facebook page to learn more about amazing wildlife on the Solway Coast.
www.facebook.com/maryport.aquarium
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