Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Terebellida
References
Britannica AI Icon

Terebellida

polychaete order
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

Terebellida is an order of marine polychaete worms, commonly known as "shag-rug worms" or "towntail worms." These are sedentary, tube-dwelling annelids that can grow up to 40 cm in length.1

Key characteristics of Terebellida include:
* Filamentous Tentacles: They possess numerous, often showy, filamentous tentacles around their head, which are used for feeding.23
* Gills: Terebellids have simple or branched gills located on the dorsal surface of their anterior end.1
* Tube Dwelling: They construct tubes from a mucoid substance to which sediment adheres.1
* Body Structure: Their bodies are divided into a thorax and abdomen.1

The family Terebellidae, which gives the order its name, is nearly cosmopolitan in distribution.3

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
3 Britannica Sources
  1. Terebellidae
  2. annelid - Annotated classification
  3. Terebella

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.