Diopatra cuprea is found in coastal areas from Massachusetts to Florida and Louisiana as well as in the Gulf of Mexico.(Malcom 1999;Knopf 1981)

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); atlantic ocean (Native )

Virginian, southside of Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras

Aruba, Belize, Bonaire, Caribbean Sea, Colombia, Curaçao, Gulf of Mexico, North West Atlantic, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela

Diopatra cuprea are on average 12 inches long and 3/8 of an inch wide. They live in a leathery tube, which they make out of mucus, bits of shells and rocks. When they come out of their shells they look similar to Christmas trees; however they are not often seen. Their shells are spirals that are cylindrical at the front and flat and tapered at the end. The color of their tube is reddish to brown and speckled with gray. They have many appendages. The lobe above their mouth is oval and short with one pair of short conical antennae. They also have five long antennae with ringed bases on the top. They have large jaws and the segments between 4 or 5 and 35 have bushy gills on their upper surfaces. These bushy gills are the "plumes" that give the plumed worm its more common name. (Carson 1955; Klingel 1951; Knopf 1981)

Diopatra cuprea live on protected mud and sand flats mixed with shell debris and gravel from the low-tide line to water up to 270 feet deep. They live in their tubes, which they create from particles of shells and other matter in their environment. (Holzapfel 1998; Knopf 1981)

Aquatic Biomes: coastal

Depth range based on 903 specimens in 2 taxa.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 35 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): -99 - 537
  Temperature range (°C): 6.849 - 27.678
  Nitrate (umol/L): 0.253 - 32.395
  Salinity (PPS): 32.507 - 36.277
  Oxygen (ml/l): 1.766 - 6.429
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.038 - 2.537
  Silicate (umol/l): 0.756 - 20.354

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): -99 - 537

Temperature range (°C): 6.849 - 27.678

Nitrate (umol/L): 0.253 - 32.395

Salinity (PPS): 32.507 - 36.277

Oxygen (ml/l): 1.766 - 6.429

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.038 - 2.537

Silicate (umol/l): 0.756 - 20.354
 
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Diopatra cuprea are active predators, which is unusual among the polychaete worms of their class. They have to be handled carefully because they can bite. They use their tentacles and cirri to find their food. They eat small creatures such as larval fishes and other tiny beings. They lie at the entrance of their tunnels devouring any tidbit that comes in reach. They only have to reach out and get it. (Malcom 1999; Knopf 1981)