07/11/2026
Christmas Tree Worms are tube dwelling sea worms that are normally found living on hard corals in tropical waters from the Caribbean to Indo Pacific waters. They come in a wide variety of colors and can live up to 40 years. While they only reach a size of about 1.5 inches, their calcareous tubes can be 8-10 inches long. While they are great to photograph and observe, they are also skittish creatures that quickly retreat into their tubes if they sense danger. They feed on ciliates, phytoplankton and other food particles by capturing it with their radioles and using those radioles to direct it toward their mouths. The populations are stable but they do face threats from polution and climate change. This photo was taken in Roatan, Honduras in August of 2024.