Description: Distinctive crown of white, pink or purple radioles, with dark brown tips, which are joined by a web until the triangular tips. Worm is up to 65 mm long, with 26 pairs of radioles, and lives buried in the sediment in a soft gelatinous tube. Body of worm is a pale orange-brown.

Habitat: Soft sediments down to 30 m or more.

Distribution: Some confusion over true distribution as two species have been recorded as Myxicola infundibulum until relatively recently (Myxicola polychroma only described in 2023).

Similar Species: Historically confused with Myxicola polychroma which was being recorded as a morph of this species. Myxicola polychroma has white tips or tips that are non-differentiated in colour on the radioles. There may be another species of Myxicola present in Britain and Ireland that has a pink or red crown with white tips which is not confirmed to be either of the species mentioned above.

Key Identification Features:

• Crown of white, purple or pink radioles (tentacles).
• Dark brown coloured tips to radioles.

Distribution Map from NBN: Myxicola infundibulum at National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

iNaturalist: Myxicola infundibulum at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

GBIF data for Myxicola infundibulum

WoRMS: Myxicola infundibulum at World Register of Marine Species. Accepted name: Myxicola infundibulum (Montagu, 1808). AphiaID: 130932.

Classification: Biota; Animalia; Annelida; Polychaeta; Sedentaria; Canalipalpata; Sabellida; Sabellidae; Myxicolinae; Myxicolini; Myxicola