St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-02-21
WORMS OF THE OCEAN.

Crawling Things of Rainbow Hues
Found on the Bottom OF the Sea.
Washington Star.
Is there anything more beautiful than
worm? 1t all depends. II you speak
of the worms of the sea, few of the most
brilliantly colored flowers of the earth
can approach them in gorgeous
ness. There is one such Great
ure of the ocean that lives in a
tube buried in the mud, and, when it
does not wish to appear In pubic, 1t
closes the tube at The top with stop
per, and so retireS from view. when 1t
feels safe, however, and is anxious for
food, it taxes off the stopper and waves
about in the water many long and eX-
qulsitely colored tentacleS resembling
a passion flower of rainbow tintS.
Many kinds OF worms there are IN
the sea that dwell in long tubes Or quilts,
the substance of which is Secreted from
their bodies for protective purposes.
One sort always keeps boarderS. AT all
events, in its tube is nearly always
found one pair of live crabs. Another
species OF sea worm builds tunnel
shaped shell, or tube, for the
construction of which it carefully
selects the prettest Obtainable gravel
and stones II can find, 50 as 10 make or
the surface sort of mosaic more artistic
than a human being could devise. Other
creatures OF this same description cover
their dwellings with beautiful smells
and foraminifera, while OGners still iiud
homes in the interior recesseS OF conch
shells. so that upon taking out hermit
crab from one OF these shells 1t Is usual
to find worm of the species mentioned
behind it.
An interesting sort Of sea worm re-
produces It's kind in manner altogether
astonishing. Any one OF the sections OF
winch it is composed seems likely at
any time to develop head and eyes,
and this segment cuOlly detacheS itself
from the main body and goes Oft by it
self, male Or female as the case may
be. Sometimes single worm will di-
vide itself up into three or four such in
diylduals. The female, thus thrown
upon The world, is supplied with sac
full of eggs, which, being duly lmpreg-
mated by the male. produce the Wn0le
worm that is destined later to divide IT.
self up as described.
Her majesty's ship Challenger brought
up from the depth of the ocean certain
sea worms never heard of before, which
had branches like tree. One sea worm
proDoscls equipped with powerful
hooked teeth. with which it seizeS its
prey, and having grasped it, deyours it
by turning itself inside out like a glove
finger.
Among the most interesting worms of
ocean are the so-called sea centipedS,
which are covered with readily detached
briStes II you step upon one or grasp
it. these brStleS stick into the skin and
cling there, so that they are removed
with some difficulty by scraping the sur
face with a keen-edged knife. These
are found along the southern coasts of
this continent and on the shores of the
West India islands.
There are certain sea worms that
board In the tubes of other sea worms,
and one thing very funny noticed about
them is that when they are present the
proper owners of the tube are always
found to be darker in color than is or
binary, though whether this is the re-
suit of annoyance at having to take care
OF such more or less welcome guests it
has been impossible thus far to aScer-
tain.
The typical sea worm that lives in a
tube has both ends of its dwelling,
which is in the shape of hook buried
in the mud, communicating by openings
with the water above. For the sake of
maintaining its health the water is
drawn in one end of the tube and ex-
PEELED through the other; and, when the
animal desires to seek food, it
rises to the former of these two
openings and waves about in
the water its many tentacles, ex-
hibiting most wildly all the
colors of the rainbow. 1t breatheS, too
~ a. Inv
of "branchla," which are modified tent
acles filed with its blood and inclosed
each OF them within so thin a skin that
the blood takes in oxygen from the
water as do the gillS of a fish. 1t is
worth mentioning that, if almost any
sea worm is cut in two. the tail will pre-
duce head or the head tail, thus
making two individuals out of one.
There is sea worm called the "phyl-
iodoce' that, when frightened, ex-
cretes from its pores jelly-like sub
stance, so that when you pick one up it
seems positively to be inclOsed in a
mass of jelly. Sometimes worm OF
another species finds its home in
branch of coral, and the coral builders
construct their walls around the ami
NAL, so that as the worm grow
they actually build tube to
lHCltSo Hill. anu oO plOFluO MN
with home. This tramp worm, as he
might be called, finds such accommoda-
tions most agreeable. merely taking
care to keep both ends Of the tube thus
made for him open, SO that he may
breathe. There is no class of animals
existing that has such brilliant and
beautiful coloring as the Sea worms,
many of them with their brightly-tinted
tentacles and branchia resembling the
most gnrge0uS blossoms of the field.