# Phyllodoce mucosa
**Phyllodoce mucosa** Örsted, 1843 is a species of marine bristle worm (polychaete annelid) in the family [Phyllodocidae](https://www.edgepedia.org/phyllodocidae), the paddleworms, placed in the genus *[Phyllodoce](https://www.edgepedia.org/phyllodoce-annelid)* Lamarck, 1818.[1](https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/copepedia/taxa/T4003300/) It is a long, slender, spotted worm common on intertidal sand and mud bottoms in northern European waters, and it is one of the phyllodocid species most often confused with its close relative *Phyllodoce maculata* (Linnaeus, 1767).[2](https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?epi=93&id=78433)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | *Phyllodoce mucosa* Örsted, 1843; WoRMS status accepted, Aphia ID 334512[1](https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/copepedia/taxa/T4003300/) |
| Classification | Animalia > Annelida > Polychaeta > Phyllodocida > Phyllodocidae > *Phyllodoce*[3](https://obis.org/taxon/334512) |
| Synonyms | *Anaitides mucosa* (Örsted, 1843); *Phyllodoce (Anaitides) mucosa* Örsted, 1843[4](https://helcom.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/BSEP130.pdf) |
| Size | Up to 150 mm for 275 segments[2](https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?epi=93&id=78433) |
| Habitat | Intertidal sand and mud bottoms, also stones and shell gravel; known to about 20 m[2](https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?epi=93&id=78433) |
| Identification pitfall | Easily confused with *Phyllodoce maculata*; several characters should always be checked[2](https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?epi=93&id=78433) |
| Database identifiers | NCBI Taxonomy ID 880432; ITIS 0065239[5](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=880432) • [1](https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/copepedia/taxa/T4003300/) |
## Taxonomy and nomenclature
The species was described by the Danish zoologist Anders Sandoe Ørsted in 1843 and is governed by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN).[6](https://mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/name/Phyllodoce%20mucosa) Older combinations place it in the subgenus *Phyllodoce (Anaitides)* or the genus *Anaitides* Czerniavsky, 1882, which is now accepted as a synonym of *Phyllodoce*; the [World Register of Marine Species](https://www.edgepedia.org/world-register-of-marine-species) lists *Phyllodoce mucosa* as the accepted name.[4](https://helcom.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/BSEP130.pdf) • [7](https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxlist&tName=Phyllodoce) The genus *Phyllodoce* contains numerous similar species; the Museum of Comparative Zoology database records 15 congeneric species alongside *P. mucosa*, including *P. maculata*, *P. groenlandica*, and *P. longipes*.[6](https://mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/name/Phyllodoce%20mucosa)
The modern treatment of northern European members of the genus is Fredrik Pleijel's 1988 revision in *Zoologica Scripta*, which gave descriptions of eight species including *P. mucosa*, checked available type material, and included a key to the species.[8](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1463-6409.1988.tb00091.x)
## Description
The body is long and slender, with a gradually tapering posterior half, reaching up to 150 mm across 275 segments.[2](https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?epi=93&id=78433) The prostomium (the head region in front of the mouth) is rounded rectangular with medium-sized eyes, and the eversible proboscis carries diagnostic papillation: the proximal part has twelve longitudinal rows of 9 to 10 papillae, six rows on each side, the distal part has six rows of tubercles, and the terminal ring bears about 16 to 17 papillae.[2](https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?epi=93&id=78433) Chaetae (bristles) are present from segment 3, the dorsal cirri of median segments are rectangular, and the pygidial cirri are about six times as long as broad.[2](https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?epi=93&id=78433)
Coloration is a practical identification aid because it survives preservation better in this group than in many relatives. The prostomium is conspicuously darkly pigmented in front of the eyes, segment 1 is darkly pigmented and visible only ventrally, and from segment 3 large dark dorsal spots occur that may coalesce posteriorly into a continuous longitudinal band; two small yellow spots per segment are present dorsally on more posterior segments.[2](https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?epi=93&id=78433) Dark pigmentation is usually well retained in preserved specimens, while yellow pigmentation disappears.[2](https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?epi=93&id=78433)
## Habitat and distribution
*P. mucosa* is common on intertidal sand and mud bottoms and also occurs on bottoms with stones and shell gravel; it is known to a depth of about 20 m.[2](https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?epi=93&id=78433) Reported records span the Arctic, the North Pacific, the northern Atlantic up to [West Africa](https://www.edgepedia.org/west-africa) and the [Gulf of Mexico](https://www.edgepedia.org/gulf-of-mexico), and the Mediterranean, Adriatic, Black Sea, English Channel, North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat, and the Öresund up to the [Bay of Kiel](https://www.edgepedia.org/bay-of-kiel).[2](https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?epi=93&id=78433) Because of possible confusion with *P. maculata*, the full distribution range cannot be determined at present; Pleijel (1988) considered the species probably restricted to the Atlantic coasts of Europe to the White Sea.[2](https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?epi=93&id=78433) • [9](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5769717/) Records from the northeast Pacific are treated as misidentifications: the Southern California Association of Marine Invertebrate Taxonomists noted in 2017 that *P. hartmanae* and *P. longipes* may have been misidentified as *P. mucosa*, which does not occur in that region.[10](https://www.scamit.org/newsletters/2017-01.pdf)
## Feeding and ecology
Phyllodocids are active carnivores, and digestive physiology has been studied in this species: studies of *Eulalia viridis* and *Phyllodoce mucosa* (Michel 1970) showed that these worms secrete the digestive enzyme trypsin.[11](https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/env/resources/d603deda-71f4-4647-a3a8-0fe7945f5f32/files/4a-polychaetes-01-polychaeta-02.pdf) In a bioturbation (reworking of sediment by living organisms) classification of European marine infaunal invertebrates, *P. mucosa* is assigned mobility score 4, reworking score 3, and type B, placing it among the actively mobile, downward-conveying sediment modifiers.[12](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3810888/) A 1976 to 1986 monitoring period in the Belgian-Dutch coastal area recorded *Phyllodoce mucosa/maculata* as widely distributed across the entire near-coastal zone.[13](https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/ocrd/100355.pdf)
## Data resources
The species is tracked across the major marine biodiversity databases: OBIS aggregates occurrence records under WoRMS Aphia ID 334512, and NCBI assigns Taxonomy ID 880432 with the invertebrate mitochondrial genetic code.[3](https://obis.org/taxon/334512) • [5](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=880432) COPEPEDIA, the NOAA species database, records 14,542 presence-only observations globally, no quantitative abundance observations, and 7 DNA barcodes as of its November 2020 update.[1](https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/copepedia/taxa/T4003300/) The species also appears in routine laboratory quality-control exercises: the NMBAQC ring test scheme lists *P. mucosa* among northern European polychaete identification targets.[14](https://www.nmbaqcs.org/media/uw0lxs03/ring-test-69-bulletin_final.pdf)
## References
1. [COPEPEDIA summary for *Phyllodoce mucosa* (T4003300), NOAA](https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/copepedia/taxa/T4003300/)
2. [Macrobenthos of the North Sea - Polychaeta: *Phyllodoce mucosa*, Naturalis Biodiversity Center](https://ns-polychaeta.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?epi=93&id=78433)
3. [*Phyllodoce mucosa* | Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS)](https://obis.org/taxon/334512)
4. [HELCOM Checklist for Baltic Sea Invertebrate Species, Baltic Sea Environment Proceedings No. 130](https://helcom.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/BSEP130.pdf)
5. [NCBI Taxonomy Browser: *Phyllodoce mucosa* (Taxonomy ID 880432)](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=880432)
6. [Taxon Details | MCZbase, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University](https://mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/name/Phyllodoce%20mucosa)
7. [WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species, taxon list for *Phyllodoce*](https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxlist&tName=Phyllodoce)
8. [Pleijel, F. (1988). *Phyllodoce* (Polychaeta, Phyllodocidae) from Northern Europe. Zoologica Scripta 17: 141-153](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1463-6409.1988.tb00091.x)
9. [Polychaetes of Greece: an updated and annotated checklist, PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5769717/)
10. [SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 35 No. 5, January/February 2017](https://www.scamit.org/newsletters/2017-01.pdf)
11. [Fauna of Australia 4A: Polychaeta](https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/env/resources/d603deda-71f4-4647-a3a8-0fe7945f5f32/files/4a-polychaetes-01-polychaeta-02.pdf)
12. [A bioturbation classification of European marine infaunal invertebrates, PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3810888/)
13. [MACROBENTHOS, VLIZ publication 100355](https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/ocrd/100355.pdf)
14. [NMBAQC scheme Ring Test Bulletin RTB#69](https://www.nmbaqcs.org/media/uw0lxs03/ring-test-69-bulletin_final.pdf)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Animals › Invertebrates › Other invertebrate lineages › Annelids › Polychaeta › Nereididae and allied errant families › Phyllodocidae*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license