Sea Mouse from South Australia

July 20, 2007
From: Judith Jones

Hello,
This photo is of one of two identical creatures found barely alive, washed up on Antechamber Bay at the Eastern end of Kangaroo Island, South Australia.

They were found on 17th July 2007, a week or so after several days of storms and strong winds had ceased and were followed by calm weather. We only have general books and are amateurs, so beyond "guessing" at sea cucumber, we do not have any other ideas.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justjjoke/843568587/

Locality: Lashmar Conservation Park, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, washed ashore, Australia, Antechamber Bay, 17th July 2007, high tide line. Length: 4.5 inches or 11cms (approx). Photographer: Judith Jones.

Thank you for any assistance you might be able to offer.

Judith

judithjones@hotmail.com

Jones, J., 2007 (Jul 20) Sea Mouse from South Australia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20253

Dear Judith,
This is not a sea cucumber, and definitely no a sea slug, so by my own rules I shouldn't spend time on it. However it is a fasciinating animal and you have some good photos.

It is a specialised polychaete worm and the bristles you can see [setae, chetae] are where these segmented bristle worms got their name [poly = many; chetae = bristles] as distjnct froom the earthworms or oligochaetes [oligo = few]. Your worm is a member of the family Aphroditidae and animals are commonly called 'Sea Mouse' for fairly obvious reasons. The most wellknown genus is Aphrodita which has often been mispelled Aphrodite. There a species worldwide as you can see in Clinton Bauder's photo [#7171] from California. There are a number of species described from Australia. I hope this is enough information for you to look for more, but as much as I would like to,  I haven't the time to become a site for all interesting marine life.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Jul 20). Comment on Sea Mouse from South Australia by Judith Jones. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20253

Factsheet

Polychaete Worms (Bristle worms)

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