Fun Feather Duster Worm Facts For Kids

Feather duster worms are a family of filter-feeding marine tubeworms that live motionless lives. They belong to the feather duster worm phylum Annelida and the kingdom Animalia.

They are known for their highly branched fan of tentacles that extends from their tubes, and they look like feather dusters. That is also why they are called fan worms. They don't have much of a purpose.

Like other segmented worms, they have long cylindrical body, and their head bears the mouth. They have a crown of feathers about 2-3 in (5-7.6 cm) in diameter.

Feather dusters make a leathery tube up to 10 in (25 cm) long from which they spread a single crown of multicolored feather-like filaments ranging in diameter from 2-4 in (5-10 cm).

There are various species of feather duster worms like the Hawaiian feather duster worm, red feather duster worm, yellow feather duster worm, giant feather duster worm, dwarf feather duster worm, mega feather duster worm, purple feather duster worm, orange feather duster worm, and social feather duster worm. Read on for fun facts about them!

If you like reading this, then you must also have a read of peacock mantis shrimp and salp facts.

Feather Duster Worm Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a Feather Duster worm?

Feather Duster worms or fan worms are marine-segmented polychaete tubeworms that are sessile, attached to rocks or sand by their base. The plume of fan worms can measure up to 10 in (25 cm) in diameter on some species. Fan worms require excellent water quality. Fan worms require supplemental feeding with infusoria or foods designed for filter-feeding invertebrates.

What class of animal does a Feather Duster worm belong to?

Feather Dusters belong to the class of arthropods. They are not parasites.

How many Feather Duster worms are there in the world?

There is no specific count of Feather Dusters in the world, but Feather Dusters are not very common because they reside in the deepest reefs of the oceans. However, appropriate marine Feather Duster worm care should be taken to ensure that their population does not decline.

Where does a Feather Duster worm live?

Fan worms reside in the oceans. Feather Dusters can be found in the subtidal areas of reefs all over the world, where they live in mild currents and they survive by feeding on plankton that is gentle enough not to harm their feathery crown.

In Hawaii, they are found on reef flats and in quiet bays and harbors. They are also found in Indo-Pacific regions.

They inhabit a wide range of surface and deep waters depending on the reefs in the water. These worms construct long tubes of mud and sand cemented by mucus and live inside them.

They then affix these tubs to rock, coral, or another solid surface. The worm produces the tube, secreting a leathery mucus from a collar-like structure at the base of the worm's tentacles.

What is a Feather Duster worm's habitat?

The natural habitat of a Feather Duster worm is the ocean. Feather Duster worms are found in the ocean, mostly on rocky beaches, coral reefs, or pier pilings.

They can be found in a wide variety of habitats, from shallow intertidal zones where they are out of the water at low tide to live at a depth of about 150 ft (45 m), and anywhere in between.

Who do Feather Duster worms live with?

Fan worms prefer to live in clusters of their species, especially in the case of the social Feather Dusters. They prefer to live in groups of their individuals and can be found in North Carolina.

How long does a Feather Duster worm live?

The average Feather Duster worm lifespan ranges from 1-1.5 years. However, this is just an estimated period. We still do not have enough research to know the exact life cycle of a Feather Duster worm.

How do they reproduce?

The Feather Duster worm reproduction occurs both sexually and asexually. They shed their crown in the mating season. The fertilized eggs mature into free-swimming larvae that ultimately settle in a suitable environment after sexual reproduction entails releasing gametes into the sea.

The worms fertilize externally, and depending on the species, they will either brood eggs or spawn freely. Serpulids, for example, settle on corals, which expand around the calcareous tube they build, making asexual reproduction virtually impossible. The Feather Duster worm growth rate is fast.

What is their conservation status?

According to the IUCN, fan worms fall under the category of Threatened species. There are various categories of fan worms found on Earth, and each of them has been categorized differently by IUCN.

Feather Duster Worm Fun Facts

What do Feather Duster worms look like?

The Feather Duster, including the giant Feather Duster, has a tan or orange fan-shaped crown (radiole) with brown band coloring. This striking and majestic animal is a prolific member of the rich fauna that embraces the Pacific Northwest's seafloor.

They can also be seen rising on pilings and floats, where their movements can be seen without the use of a wetsuit or scrubbing. The Feather Duster worm symmetry is bilateral.

How cute are they?

Fan worms are very cute and gorgeous because of their appearance. They have bright, beautiful colors on their bodies, and overall, they have a vibrant physical appearance. This conspicuous and beautiful species is a prominent part of the diverse fauna. Even the Feather Duster worm color varies among different species. Most species have a narrow collar below the head.

How do they communicate?

There is a lack of research to determine the methods of communication of fan worms. The worms remain encased in a translucent tan tube made of protein and filtered particles, and hence it is difficult to determine their method of communication.

Their tentacles have Feather Duster worm eyes, and this worm has tiny compound eyes, which are an adaptation to avoid danger. The tentacles also have light-sensitive receptors.

How big is a Feather Duster worm?

Fan worms are around 10 in (25 cm) long, and they have feather tubes spread wide across. They are about five times smaller than sea snakes.

How fast can a Feather Duster worm move?

These fan worms cannot move.

Feather Duster worms would crawl out of their tubes in the rarest of rare cases, and if they do so, that means that they are not in a healthy state at all.

In the case of fan worms bred in an aquarium, they will move their tubes and give off other signs to let their owner know that they aren't happy.

The worm's locomotion is restricted to movement within the tube, but then they do create a gentle flow in the water to create vortices.

How much does a Feather Duster worm weigh?

Their exact weight isn't known, but they are very light because their body mostly consists of feathers.

What are the male and female names of the species?

There isn't any specific name for male and female species of fan worms.

What would you call a baby Feather Duster worm?

There is no specific term for a baby fan worm. Fan worms do not have babies specifically. They reproduce in a way that exact adults are produced. There is no baby stage for a fan worm.

What do they eat?

Feather Duster worms feeding on plankton, small crabs, other small marine creatures, and food particles in the seawater is a common sight.

It eats food that comes near the mouth area at the center of the tentacle ring of its tube.

In the case of the fan worms bred in an aquarium, they feed on microorganisms in the water around their tube and baby brine shrimps and other small creatures.

Giant fan worms consume tiny food particles and plankton that float in the ocean, and they can only survive in areas with moving waves that pull in fresh plankton, so they don't just sit around waiting for it.

Rather, they generate a current in the water that directs the particles toward the creature's mouth.

Are they dangerous?

No, fan worms are not at all dangerous. They are harmless as they can't even move, and even in case of their ability to catch food from their surroundings from their tentacles, they only catch plankton or small creatures around them and survive by feeding on them.

In the case of fan worms in an aquarium, they need to be provided with food to keep them healthy.

Would they make a good pet?

Feather Dusters have a beautiful appearance - the reason behind them often being bred in an aquarium and manually providing food on which these worms feed. However, the aquarium needs to be a reef tank if fan worms are bred in it.

They require standard reef tank water and a temperature range of 72-83 degrees F (22.2-28.3 degrees C).

The best Feather Duster worm placement in an aquarium would be the sandy or crushed coral substrate in an area of gentle-to-moderate water flow adjacent to the live rock. Do not use anything with copper as this could potentially kill them.

Did you know...

While these fan worms lack a face and eyes, they can sense differences in light and use this sensitivity to shield themselves from predators.

These arthropods sometimes leave their tube when there are strong currents, and they would like to reposition themselves. However, sometimes if their tubes are empty and don't have any feathers on them, they could be dead.

Corals don't resemble these arthropods.

What does a Feather Duster worm use its crown of appendages for?

The worm spreads its plumes as widely as possible, catching whatever types of plankton happen to come by using its crown of appendages. However, the worms shed their crown in the mating season.

How do Feather Duster worms deal with predators?

Feather Dusters use a lot of ways to deal with predators. Their tentacles are light-sensitive and produce reactions specific to the amount of light coming, and hence they do understand when a predator is coming by. They can also regenerate their missing bits bitten off by predators into new Feather Dusters.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other arthropods from our sea slug facts and hermit crab facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Feather Duster worm coloring pages.