#4957 · 🪼 jellyfish, starfish, worms & co

Mediterranean Fanworm

🇳🇱 Spallanzani's waaierkokerworm ·Sabella spallanzanii

🪼 Jellyfish, starfish, worms & co 📍 in the Netherlands

8 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © John Turnbull · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
2. © eduardmarques · CC BY-NC 4.0
3. © Falk Viczian Solarboot-Projekte gGmbH · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © Matt Biegner · CC BY-NC 4.0
5. © Sylvain Le Bris · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. © John Turnbull · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
7. © CSIRO · CC BY 4.0
8. © whodden · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

Sabella spallanzanii is a species of marine polychaete worms in the family Sabellidae. Common names include the Mediterranean fanworm , the feather duster worm , the European fan worm and the pencil worm . It is native to shallow waters in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It has spread to various other parts of the world and is included on the Global Invasive Species Database.

base stats

NL sightings 3iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 3,912iNaturalist observations

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

Spotted 3 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
3,912 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1791 (235 years ago).

fact sheet

English: Mediterranean Fanworm
Nederlands: Spallanzani's waaierkokerworm
scientific name: Sabella spallanzanii
class: Polychaeta
order: Sabellida
family: Sabellidae
sightings in NL: 3
sightings in Europe: 2,481
sightings worldwide: 3,912
GBIF records in NL: 7
weight: —
length: —
lifespan: —
named: 1791 by Johann Friedrich Gmelin

relatives· Sabellidae

Sources: iNaturalist taxon 338012, Wikidata Q1417852, GBIF 2328603, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.