Peanut
worms (Class Sipuncula)
Many thanks to Eric Sanford who sent me this photo
of an unidentified peanut worm, taken in Kaua'i.
Peanut
worms are short, soft, unsegmented, somewhat bulbous worms that
live buried in sand or mud, or sometimes under stones. Although
once considered to constitute their own unique phylum, they are
now consdered a class within the annelid worms in the phylum Annelida.
However, they are kept separate here. The photos are courtesy of
Eric Sanford.
Here's
an old and almost certainly incomplete listing of Hawaiian peanut
worms: Bishop
Museum list of Hawaiian peanut worms
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