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A view of the animal partly retracted into its slime tube
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When removed from the tube, this individual is about 6 cm total length. Note that the animal has immediately begun to produce a new mass of mucus around itself.
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The radioles of this species are united through much of their length into a distinctive funnel.
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The thorax has 8 segments, the first 5 or 6 of which (at least) have long-handled uncini and no pickaxe-shaped setae.
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The abdominal uncini form rows that go nearly all the way around the animal.
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A colony of Myxicola infundibulum on the side of a dock. The colony is about 30 cm across and each funnel-like set of radioles is about 2.5-3 cm across. The entire colony is a ball of mucus that remains when the animals withdraw rapidly into their slime tubes. (Photo by: Dave Cowles, July 2014)
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This view shows the entire animal outside its tube.
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This closeup view of the tube shows how the tip of the tube (to the right) curls over and covers the end when the animal is not sticking out.
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In this view the ocelli (dark spots) can be seen on the radioles. The ocelli can sense light and dark, allowing the animal to pull rapidly inside its tube when a shadow passes over it.
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In this view of the thoracic parapodia the neuropodia (above, directly facing the camera) can be seen to be short-handled, avicular uncini (or with no handles at all) that are in a straight or slightly sinuous line. The notopodia (below) have both long limbate and shorter spatulate setae. This is a view of the left side of the animal which is outside its tube. The animal's ventral side (smooth, white) is up in this photo.
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Laonome kroeyeri in its tube. The tube is about 1 cm in diameter and 25 cm long. This individual was caught by otter trawl at about 75 m depth in the San Juan Channel. (Photo by: Dave Cowles, July 2008)
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Here are several more aggregations at Beach #4. Photo by Dave Cowles, July 2006
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This underwater photo of Eudistylia vancouveri on a piling shows the plumes fully extended. Photo by Dave Cowles, July 2008 at Admiralty Beach
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An individual on a float at Fidalgo Marina, Anacortes, WA. Photo by Dave Cowles, July 2, 2014
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Eudistylia vancouveri at Beach #4 near Kalaloch (Photo by: Dave Cowles, July 2005)
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These two intertwined individuals show some of the variations in plume color. Their tubes are overgrown with Perophora annectens tunicates, and a Triopha catalinae clown nudibranch is crawling among them.
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This individual, the same as in the photograph above (but removed from its tube) shows details of the tan-colored plume.
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This slit-open tube shows the smooth texture inside and the rough texture outside.
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This dorsal view of the head shows the groove for fecal material, which runs on the dorsal side at the anterior end (thorax) of the animal. The white flecks are material which has already moved up the groove. A few white flecks can be seen in the groove, and these are moving steadily toward the head. The long notosetae are visible, the head flaps can be clearly seen at the base of the radioles, and dark eyespots can be seen on the shaft of at least one radiole.