While diving, I would imagine you come across so many different creatures. Worms are everywhere in every ecosystem. Whether they are big, small or even seen or hidden. Worms are every where and play a huge role in every aspect. Even underwater! The Bearded fire worm you may have come across in every dive or even snorkel.
The Bearded fire worm comes in a variety of sizes and are a resemblance to caterpillars. Most persons would think they are harmless but I assure you, they are not to be touched at any point in time.
Bearded fire worm are from the amphinomidae family. Native to the Atlantic Ocean and also Mediterranean Sea. They have segmented bodies, and are also called Hermodice carunculata in scientific terms, the Bearded fire worm is a marine type Bristle worm.
Their habitat is distributed around many tropical waters. They can be found almost everywhere in the waters. From coral to hydroids to rocks, mud, sand ad anything else you can find in water.
Being a voracious predator, the fire worm is known to feed on anemones, coral (both hard and soft), small crustaceans and also hydroids. One thing that is suppose to be of concern is the amount of needles sticking out of the fire worm. Being stung by one of these is like fire on where ever it stings you. You won’t die, but it could be very painful. The furry looking part actually are needles and breaks off into the skin if touched.
For mating, they go to the surface. Females emit a greenish phosphorescent. This phosphorescent glow, attracts the males and they dart towards the females emitting flashing lights at the same time. As the different sexes come together, the sex cells are shed and combined.