Australonuphis
Sign in to saveAustralonuphis, commonly called Australian beach worms, are a genus of polychaetous annelids of the family Onuphidae that inhabit the intertidal zone of coastal beaches and are attracted to the surface by the stimulus of food. They are sought by anglers to be used as bait for fishing. Some species can grow more than two metres in length. They are blind but have a very good sense of smell, and eat decaying meat, fish and seaweeds that have washed to shore.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumAnnelida
- ClassPolychaeta
- OrderEunicida
- FamilyOnuphidae
via GBIF
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 8
- Family
- Onuphidae
- Collections
- SIO, AM, USNM
- Recorded in
- Australia, Chile, United States
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Species
- ''A. teres'' and ''A. parateres''
- ''A. hartmanae'' and ''A. casamiquelorum''
- Use as bait for fishing
- References
Australonuphis, commonly called Australian beach worms, are a genus of polychaetous annelids of the family Onuphidae that inhabit the intertidal zone of coastal beaches and are attracted to the surface by the stimulus of food. They are sought by anglers to be used as bait for fishing. Some species can grow more than two metres in length. They are blind but have a very good sense of smell, and eat decaying meat, fish and seaweeds that have washed to shore.
Originally identified as a single species in 1868 (Diopatra teres), in 1878 they were placed in the genus Onuphis. A study in 1979 renamed two Americonuphis species as Australonuphis (A. teres and A. parateres), both being found in New South Wales. A novel species from the Ecuadorian coast was identified in 2008.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Australonuphis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.