Pigbutt Worm (Chaetopterus pugaporcinus)

Also known as the flying buttocks (seriously I’m not making this up), the pigbutt worm is a unique species of chaetopterid polychaete worm that was discovered recently by scientists at the MBARI in deep waters (around 3-4,000 ft) off of the Pacific. This unique worm’s middle segments are highly inflated which gives it its name. They have been observed floating with their mouths surround by a cloud of mucus, which could mean they may feed on marine snow and use this mucus to capture the falling particles. However this is not confirmed and much is still known about the biology of C.pugaporcinus, and weather the individuals observed are larvae or adults is unknown as well.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Annelida-Polychaeta-Canalipalpata-Chaetopteridae-Chateopterus-C.pugaporcinus

Images: Casey Dunn and Karen Osborn