C. variopedatus strains its food from the water by means of a mucous bag which is secreted by and left continuous with the inner walls of the aliform notopodia. The posterior end of this mucous bag with its entrapped food is rolled into a ball within the dorsal cupule. The mucous bag is continuously secreted at its anterior end while it is rolled up at its posterior end. When the resulting bolus of mucus and food reaches a certain size, the upper end of the bag is cut loose from the aliform notopodia and the bolus is carried forward to the mouth by the cilia of the dorsal groove. While the annelid is feeding, the three fans just posterior to the dorsal cupule maintain the current of water through the U-shaped tube in which it lives.