Sand dweller [2] ( Latin: Arenicola marina , literally - an inhabitant of marine sand) is a species of polychaete worms from the Arenicolidae family. Large worms up to 20 cm long, living in U-shaped minks that dig in silty-sandy soil. They feed by passing bottom sediment through the intestines. Peskozhily inhabit the tidal zone and the upper sublittoral of the seas of the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean [1] , where they form dense settlements in vast territories - “sandy beaches”.
| Sandblast |
Sea sandblast on the surface of the soil |
| Scientific classification |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
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| International scientific name |
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Arenicola marina ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
| Synonyms |
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- Lumbricus marinus Linnaeus , 1758
- Nereis lumbricoides Pallas , 1788
et al. [1]
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The body of an adult sandblast is subdivided into three departments: thorax , abdomen and tail section. The integuments form secondary rings that do not correspond to segmentation.
The parapodia of the thorax and abdomain are strongly reduced , their abdominal branches are transformed into ridges bearing one row of hook-shaped setae. There are no parapodia in the caudal region. A pair of bushy gills are located on the dorsal side of each of the 11 abdominal segments.
Sandworms live in U-shaped minks with mucus- reinforced walls. The depth of the mink can reach up to 20 - 30 cm . The front end of the body of the worm is in its horizontal section, the rear - in the vertical. As a result of soil removal during swallowing, the sediment sags above the head end, forming a characteristic funnel-shaped depression on the surface. For defecation, the worms periodically rise to the surface of the soil with the rear end forward. [3] At this point, they can become prey for predators who grab the worm by the protruding tail, which is nevertheless discarded by the animals without any problems [4] .
While in the mink, the sand-gang constantly peristaltically contracts, which injects oxygen-rich water into the mink from the soil surface [3] .
Used by anglers as bait [4] .
Two forms of the peptide of the family with antimicrobial action of a wide spectrum were isolated from [5]
