‘Christmas tree worm?’ Take a look at a tropical creature known for its ‘festive’ flair
If you’re wondering whether you should inspect your fir for a Christmas tree worm this holiday season, you don’t have to worry.
During the holiday season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is celebrating Christmas tree worms, which are tropical marine animals that burrow in coral.
The NOAA says the Spirobranchus giganteus gets its name because of its “festive” shape. When the worms embed themselves in a coral reef, they sprout two “crowns” with “hair-like appendages” that resemble brightly colored fir trees.
These appendages help them breathe and feed on phytoplankton.
The Christmas tree worms are small — most less than 4 centimeters long — but they are easy to spot thanks to their “distinctive shape, beauty and color,” the NOAA says.
The animals inhabit the waters from the Indo-Pacific region to the Caribbean, according to the University of the West Indies. They’re fairly common and aren’t considered endangered.
Christmas tree worms can live more than 30 years, according to the university.
The colorful creatures have stunned divers.
“You see pictures of these things and can hardly believe they’re real, or that they actually come in that stunning array of sour patch gummy-worm colors,” Jennifer Frazer wrote for Scientific American. “But they do.”
The “reclusive” worms are sensitive to light, touch and motion, and they tend to retreat into their burrows when threatened.