Polychaetes - (‘poly’ = many, ‘chaeta’ = bristle) worms

What do I do with polychaetes?

I like watching polychaetes (and other invertebrates) simply because they’re fascinating, alien-looking beasties that are absolutely everywhere in the ocean.  They’re the stagehands behind-the-scenes of how the world works...the unsung heroes. 

Worms can also tell us a lot about the environment they live in.  Humans will have some impact on their environment wherever we live, catch food, or dispose of our waste.  I believe that it is our responsibility to make sure that our impacts are as gentle as possible, not only to take care of the planet, but to ensure our own future. Some species of worms can live in polluted areas, while others are too sensitive to live there.  Some like one type of sediment while others are more general.  Some like certain temperature, chemical, or physical environments that others can’t tolerate.  By mapping out where different groups of worms exist near fish farms, sewage outfalls, harbour dredge spoil disposal sites, etc. we can see where humans have an impact and just how big it might be.  While expensive chemical and physical tests are possible, they provide only a quick ‘snapshot’ of the environment when those samples were taken and it's usually too expensive to take lots of samples.  The worms are living, mostly in the same spot, all their lives (which can vary from a few days to many years in different species). They ‘average’ out the impact in a more realistic way over time.  Analysing the worm communities help us gauge the health of that particular part of the ocean!  Learn to listen to the worms and you’ll hear some amazing stories!

For these reasons I research where worms live and how they interact with their environment. Lots of coastal acitivities like outfalls, housing development, aquaculture, dredging and such need someone to find out what species are living on the bottom. I help people by identifying polychaetes the best that I can, but there's a lot more worm work than workers! THE WORLD NEEDS MORE WORMLADIES AND WORMGUYS! Besides identifying worms we need people to understand the development, ecology, chemistry, and physics of the worms' world in order to live in it well. It's not only useful science, it can be very exciting and satisfying as well.