Palola viridis

Palola viridis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Annelida
Class: Polychaeta
Order: Eunicida
Family: Eunicidae
Genus: Palola
Species: P. viridis
Binomial name
Palola viridis
(Gray, 1840)
Synonyms

Eunice viridis

Palola viridis, commonly known as the palolo worm or Samoan palolo worm, is a Polychaeta species from the waters of the Pacific islands around Samoa and the Maluku Islands

Life cycle

Palolo worm life cycle

Reproduction involves mass spawning at night in spring or early summer (October - November in the Southern Hemisphere). The terminal parts of their bodies drop off and float over the surface of the water, releasing sperm and eggs. The mechanisms or triggers which induce spawning such that it occurs during nights of a waning moon, continuing for several nights, are not completely known.[1][2]

Taxonomy

It is sometimes synonymous with Palola siciliensis.

Distribution

The palolo worm is found in various tropical regions, including in Indonesia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa and American Samoa.

Cultural use

Indigenous populations in various parts of the Pacific – including Vanuatu and Samoa – use the reproductive portion of the palolo worm as a food source. During their short lived annual appearance in the last quarter of the moon in October and November, worms are enthusiastically gathered with a net, and are either eaten raw or cooked in several different manners.

In Indonesia, a traditional event called the Nyale Festival is held between February and March in the Indonesian island of Lombok. The event focuses on catching these worms as bait and as a delicacy for consumption.

The spawning event is so important to the inhabitants of the Torres and Banks Islands of Vanuatu that it is featured in their lunar calendar.[3]

Notes

  1. ↑ Craig, P. "Natural History Guide to American Samoa" (PDF). National Park of American Samoa, Department Marine and Wildlife Resources, American Samoa Community College. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  2. ↑ Ley, Willy (October 1960). "The Moon Worm". For Your Information. Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 56–66.
  3. ↑ Codrington (1891); Mondragón (2004).

References

  • World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1996). "Eunice viridis". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 1996: e.T8261A12903350. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T8261A12903350.en. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  • Codrington, Robert (1891). The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-Lore. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Mondragón, Carlos (June 2004). "Of Winds, Worms and Mana: The Traditional Calendar of the Torres Islands, Vanuatu". Oceania. 74 (4): 289–308. JSTOR 40332069.
  • Gill, Rev Mr. (1854). "On the Palolo". Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 57. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
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