Dorgan, K.M., C.J. Law, and G.W. Rouse. 2013. Meandering worms: Mechanics of undulatory burrowing in muds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 280: 20122948.

Specimens were collected by hand and sorted or sieved from sediments and preserved for DNA and morphology analysis. Armandia brevis (Moore, 1906) and Thoracophelia mucronata (Treadwell, 1914) were collected from Mission Bay, San Diego, California on June 9, 2011 and La Jolla Shores Beach, California on May 4, 2012, respectively.

http://dmoserv3.bco-dmo.org/data/rouse/polychaete_videos/Armandia_brevis_burrowing_in_gelatin_fragments_Rouse.mp4

This video shows Armandia brevis burrowing in gelatin fragments. See the paper "Meandering worms: mechanics of undulatory burrowing in muds" by Dorgan et al, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B

http://dmoserv3.bco-dmo.org/data/rouse/polychaete_videos/Armandia_brevis_swimming_Rouse.mp4

This video shows Armandia brevis swimming. See the paper "Meandering worms: mechanics of undulatory burrowing in muds" by Dorgan et al, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Law C, Dorgan KM, Rouse GW. 2014. Relating divergence in musculature within Opheliidae (Annelida) with different burrowing behaviors. J Morphol 275: 548-571.

http://dmoserv3.bco-dmo.org/data/rouse/polychaete_videos/Law_etal2013.mov

To observe the movements of the septum and injector organ corresponding with the peristaltic wave, live Thoracophelia mucronata were placed in tunnels in a thin layer of seawater gelatin between a microscope slide and cover slip. Tunnels were created by allow- ing the gelatin to set around straight pieces of fishing line, which were then pulled out of the set gelatin. Small worms with diameter close to that of the fishing line were positioned with the anterior at the entry of the tunnel and encouraged to move. Videos were recorded using a Canon T3i camera attached to a Leica DMR microscope with polarizing filters. Crossed polarizers were used to view muscle fibers, which are birefringent.

Francoeur, A.A., K.M. Dorgan. 2014. Burrowing behavior in mud and sand of morphologically divergent polychaete species (Annelida: Orbiniidae). Biological Bulletin 226: 131-145.

http://dmoserv3.bco-dmo.org/data/rouse/polychaete_videos/Francouer&Dorgan104.mp4

Videos of the orbiniid polychaetes, Leitoscoloplos pugettensis, Naineris dendritica, and Orbinia johnsoni, burrowing in gelatin, a clear analog for muddy sediments, and glass beads and cryolite, analogs for sandy sediments. All three species extend burrows by fracture in gelatin. L. pugettensis, naturally found in muddy sediments, exhibits periodic twisting in gelatin, whereas twisting in sand analogs is more erratic. N. dendritica, naturally found in sands, has a wider anterior that shows periodic fluctuations in width. For all three species, substantially more grain movement can be seen in glass beads than in cryolite. Additionally, O. johnsoni, naturally found on sandy beaches, exhibits frequent periodic body expansions, visible as anterior movement of dark internal mass, in cryolite that rarely occur in glass beads and were not observed in gelatin.

polych_videos.csv