Some quantitative aspects of feeding in sabellid and serpulid fan worms

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Abstract
The rate of filtering has been examined in a series of sabellids and serpulids of widely different size, using suspensions of colloidal graphite and algal cultures. The filtering rates have been expressed as individual rates, as the volume strained per unit fresh weight, and per unit weight of the crown. It may be concluded that the smaller fan worms filter at a relatively higher rate than the larger. This is achieved partly by the relatively larger crown. Free swimming algae escape through the crown; only inert particles down to 1–2 μA are retained, implying that fan worms depend on suspended detritus alone. The filtering rates are briefly compared with those of Chaetopterus and some other filter-feeding invertebrates.

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