How do Fireworms reproduce?
Reproduction. Fireworms exhibit both asexual and sexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction occurs when individuals undergo fragmentation, dividing the body into one or more parts that regenerate to form heads tails or both, and grow into new individuals.
What is unique about bearded Fireworms mating?
Sexually, as in male and female specimens mating, these creatures reproduce in a spectacular display using Bioluminescence. During the mating season in early spring, the females of the species will swim up to the surface of the ocean and emit a greenish phosphorescent glow, which attracts the males towards them.
How do bearded Fireworms defend themselves?
When threatened the fireworm flares out the venom- filled bristles to defend itself. These bristles easily infiltrate the skin where they break and cause a burning sensation that can last for weeks (MarineBio, 2011). The bearded fireworm is fluorescent at night (Fig.
What do bearded Fireworms do?
Fireworms are voracious predators that feed on soft and hard corals, anemones, and small crustaceans. They engulf the last few centimeters of the tip of a branching coral, such as Acropora cervicornis (staghorn coral), in its inflated pharynx and remove the coral tissue right from the skeleton.
What class is a bristle worm in?
Polychaetes
Polychaetes belong the phylum Annelida, the segmented worms. The phylum also includes the classes Hirudinea, which contain the leeches, and the Oligochaeta, the earthworms. The class Polychaeta are the marine worms, such as the nereids (sandworms) and glycerids (bloodworms).
What happens when a male fireworm sees the light of a female fireworm?
The lighted female fireworms spin on the surface of the water. When the males see the light from the females, they flash their own lights. Then the males dart to the surface and bob up and down in the water.
How do I get rid of Fireworms?
How to Remove a Bristle Worm or Fireworm: Fireworms can be physically removed from an aquarium of fish tank with baiting or with the addition of a natural predator. Many wrasses will work but we always suggest the Melanurus Wrasse, the arrow crab will also easily remove the Bearded Firework from your aquarium.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-owMm3fJSSM