#5006 · 🪼 jellyfish, starfish, worms & co
Red Tubeworm
🇳🇱 Rode kalkkokerworm ·Serpula vermicularis
📍 Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon, FR
📍 La Collette Marina
📍 Queenie's Reef
📍 13740 Le Rove, France
📍 17496 Colera, Gérone, Espagne
📍 West Greece, Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian Islands, GR
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Jean-Paul Cassez · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Daniela Kupschus · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © 2005 California Academy of Sciences · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 4. © BIO Photography Group, Biodiversity Institute of Ontario · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 5. Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon, FR:© Frédéric ANDRE · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. La Collette Marina:© Chris Isaacs · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. Queenie's Reef:© Tony Gilbert · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. 13740 Le Rove, France:© David Torres · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. 17496 Colera, Gérone, Espagne:© Sylvain Le Bris · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. West Greece, Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian Islands, GR:© Sarah Faulwetter · CC BY 4.0
what is it?
Serpula vermicularis , known by common names including the calcareous tubeworm , fan worm , plume worm or red tube worm , is a species of segmented marine polychaete worm in the family Serpulidae. It is the type species of the genus Serpula and was first described by Linnaeus in 1767. It lives in a tube into which it can retract.
base stats
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
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 1,509 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1767 (259 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Red Tubeworm
- Nederlands
- Rode kalkkokerworm
- scientific name
- Serpula vermicularis
- class
- Polychaeta
- order
- Sabellida
- family
- Serpulidae
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings in Europe
- 974
- sightings worldwide
- 1,509
- GBIF records in NL
- 57
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1767
relatives· Serpulidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 117576, Wikidata Q1115120, GBIF 8424445, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.