Biodiversity & Conservation

Lagoon sandworm - Armandia cirrhosa

Armandia cirrhosa

Image - Line drawing of Armandia cirrhosa. Worm length ca 5 mm
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Distribution map

Armandia cirrhosa recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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  • WC_Act_1981
  • UK_BAP
Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Annelida Segmented worms e.g. ragworms, tubeworms & fanworms
Class Polychaeta Bristleworms, e.g. ragworms, scaleworms, paddleworms, fanworms and tubeworms
Authority Filippi, 1861
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Eight Acre Pond in the Keyhaven-Lymington lagoons in Hampshire; Small Mouth Spit (Portland Harbour) and East Fleet Sandbank (Fleet Lagoon) in Dorset.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found in gravely, sandy and muddy substrata in water only slightly less saline than seawater.
Text page icon Description A small, ribbon-like species, less than 8 mm long with three eyes on its head. It has 26 or 27 segments that bear chitinous bristles.
Identifying features
  • Ventral gutter extends along whole of body.
  • 26 or 27 chaeta-bearing segments.
  • 3 eyes on the head.
  • Very small, less than 8 mm long.
Additional information icon Additional information Almost nothing is known of its biology.

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This review can be cited as follows:

Nicola White 2007. Armandia cirrhosa. Lagoon sandworm. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 07/09/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=2600>