All the tiny worms

The jaws of this polychaete now 
fill Sarah's nightmares. Photo by 
Sarah Zuidema.

Back when I was in grad school, I spent 2 weeks on a ship in the Arctic. It was part of a class I was taking on polar benthic ecology. The expedition gave me a great opportunity to collect panels that I had deployed about a year prior and actually generated data that turned into one of my dissertation chapters. Aside from my personal research, though, the class itself was incredibly valuable. Most of the time at sea was spent collecting and sorting seafloor samples from different Svalbard fjords. Sorting seafloor samples means identifying lots of worms. So basically, I spent 2 weeks at sea identifying worms. 

Boy am I glad that I did. 

There are an unbelievable number of worms in the ocean. According to the World Register of Marine Species, there are 12,834 valid species of polychaetes globally. (There's even a species of polychaete named after me.) And polychaetes are just the segmented marine worms. There are also ribbon worms, round worms, flatworms, peanut worms, arrow worms - the list goes on. So. Many. Worms. 

Thanks to years of experience, I can recognize a lot of different worms. Bamboo worm - yep, I got you. Lugworm - oh hello, friend. Feather duster worm - you bet. My internal worm database comes in handy on a regular basis. 

This little cutie built himself a tube out
of sand grains! Photo by Sarah Zuidema.

Recently, I've been working with my technician, Sarah, to count and identify all the worms (and other animals) in a set of samples I helped collect in September. The project is meant to show the environmental impacts of offshore wind, and we're collaborating with a local consulting firm on the assessment. It's been a fun process so far. We have 225 samples - yes, that is a lot - and each one is chock-full of an absolutely mind-blowing range of worms. Honestly, it is fascinating to delve into all the biodiversity in our local waters. 

Thankfully, Sarah and I have a solid set of taxonomic keys to work with, and we're getting into a rhythm. I'm excited to see the data!