The speed of European Fanworm - Sabella spallanzanii
In this video we see the extraordinary speed with which the European Fanworm or Pencil worm manages to disappear. This Fanworm (Sabella spallanzanii) was found in a hole of a submerged cliff at about 40 meters deep, the environment is typical of the Mediterranean seabed, rich in every organism such as the Parazoanthus axinellae, various corals, bryozoans and sponges of every shape and color. La velocità dello Spirografo Sabella spallanzanii intotheblue.it
As can be seen from the video, the Fanworm spends most of his time filtering the water in search of food and as soon as he perceives a danger of any kind he withdraws with great speed inside his tube / hiding place. In the second part of the video, slowed down 20 times thanks to the technology of the new action cameras and high definition, you can practically see frame by frame this movement in fact imperceptible to the human eye..
The European Fanworm (Sabella spallanzanii Gmelin, 1805) is a channeled polyphala annelid of the Sabellidae family, from the outside vaguely resembling an anthozoan but actually belonging to a completely different type of animal.
Description He lives inside a tube of paper consistency, produced by the animal, inside which he withdraws in case of danger. It is equipped in the cephalic area with filiform gills covered with cilia and mucous glands, whose function is to entangle food particles. These have a color that alternates yellow-brown, dark brown and white.
Nutrition and behavior It is a typical filter animal, which feeds on plankton and suspended debris.
Habitat and distribution Typically benthic species, it lives on mobile, sandy or muddy bottoms. Available almost in all seas, even at great depths. Common in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, rarer in the western one.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabella_spallanzanii https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabella_spallanzanii