Christmas Tree Worm Diet. The common name for these worms is derived from their appearance not their habitat or diet. You won t find spirobranchus giganteus also known as the christmas tree worm eating your fir tree this year.
Most of the larger species eat ciliates organic detritus and certain types of invertebrate larvae such as zooplankton and phytoplankton. They aren t very big averaging about 1 5 inches in length. Christmas tree worms are ciliary feeders which means they use cilia tiny hair like bristles on their appendages to catch food as it passes by.
The food then passes down a groove pushed by their ciliary tracts which are lines of tiny hair like extensions on the sources of cells that create water currents to direct digestion.
Christmas tree worms spirobranchus giganteus are polychaete ciliary feeders that feed using their radioles the hair like appendages or feathers that circle outward from the central spine to catch phytoplankton floating by in the water. The christmas tree worm is purely a filter feeding species whose diet should consist of plankton foods in the currents and should be supplemented with liquid plankton based foods. You won t find spirobranchus giganteus also known as the christmas tree worm eating your fir tree this year. This somewhat specialized diet along with this species intolerance for strong direct water movement make it somewhat difficult to feed.
