Summary

This marine worm is from a family of segmented worms called Hartmaniellidae. Unlike most worms, these have hard jaws which can be seen in blue in the images here. As they have hard parts this family has left a fossil record which dates back to at least the Triassic (about 200-250 million years ago). They are much less common today than they were hundreds of millions of years ago. Despite the huge number of marine surveys taken world-wide in the past hundred years or more, only 3 living species and a few dozen specimens are known, occurring in scattered populations such as the Gulf of Mexico and seas around Thailand and Japan. Recent explorations in Australian waters have recently discovered just 2 more specimens, one from the Arafura Sea and this from the Great Australian Bight.

These worms are so uncommon that researchers don't want to risk damaging specimens by dissections to reveal the hidden jaws. MicroCT scans allow the shape of the jaws to be precisely revealed and also showing their articulation. Researchers can use this information to begin to answer some of the questions that interest us: How similar are these specimens to the fossil species? Do the specimens from Australia represent new species in this family? Is there some aspect of the jaw design in these worms that might explain why they are now rare while other kinds of worms with jaws of different design have become very common?

Specimen Details

  • Taxon Name

    Hartmaniella

  • Preferred Common name

    Worm

  • Date Identified

    2010

  • Identified By

    Robin S Wilson

  • Number Of Specimens

    1

  • Sex

    Unknown

  • Specimen Nature

    Form: Wet

  • Collected By

    D Currie - Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MAFRI), Victoria

  • Collection Event Code

    SARDI-GAB-2006 42

  • Sampling Method

    Smith-McIntyre grab

  • Date Visited From

    19/10/2006

  • Date Visited To

    19/10/2006

  • Depth To (m)

    156

  • Depth From (m)

    156

  • Category

    Natural Sciences

  • Scientific Group

    Invertebrate Zoology

  • Discipline

    Invertebrates

  • Collecting Areas

    Invertebrates

  • Type of Item

    Specimen

Taxonomy

Geospatial Information

  • Country

    Australia

  • State

    South Australia

  • Precise Location

    eastern Great Australian Bight

  • Latitude

    -33.2924

  • Longitude

    130.561

  • Geodetic Datum

    WGS84