For reasons we can’t decipher, we’ve received a few questions lately about rearing worms. The most recent article we wrote dealt with raising marine worms, and the question before us now has to do with rearing polychaete worms (or simply “polychaetes”) specifically. (Most polychaetes are marine worms, so obviously raising marine worms and raising polychaetes are related.) What exactly our reader was asking was hard to determine, but at bottom it was about managing what might be called a “polychaete worm farm,” one in which polychaetes are reared and bred. Is it possible to rear and breed polychaete worms?

A reader wrote us a series of questions a while ago about rearing marine worms. He is wondering first of all if it is possible to rear marine worms (yes), and then he asked several highly specific questions that are very difficult to answer. Consistent with our policy of answering essentially every question we receive, however, we will venture to address our reader’s interest in rearing marine worms as best as we can.

An enterprising reader recently wrote to us about the prospect of raising marine worms for commercial purposes. He was wondering if this is possible, and specifically mentioned creating a “bristle farm” (by which he presumably meant a farm for raising bristle worms, or polychaetes). The reader didn’t ask any specific questions about how this operation might be set up, so we won’t get into the specifics of setting up a marine worm farm that is designed to turn a profit. Instead, we will focus on the general feasibility of this project.

A reader wrote to us the other day about a unique worm that she found on the beach in Port Aransas, Texas. The worm (or rather, worms – she found several) are covered in what appear to be dozens of small shells. The reader attributed agency to the worm, suggesting that the worm had perhaps “decorated” itself with the shells, much like a decorator crab wraps itself in seaweed to blend in with its surroundings. Many of these strange worms, which were a few inches long on average, were found on the beach, although a few others were found in the water, where they were partially buried in sand. (Presumably, these worms were right by the shore, or else our reader must have been diving to the explore the ocean’s floor.) What are these worms?

A reader asked where one might be able to purchase small, tropical aquatic worms. Presumably this would exclude the giant tube worm, which lives near undersea volcanic vents and can grow to over seven feet in length. However, for the buyer interested in purchasing tropical aquatic worms of the smaller variety, a number of options abound, including flatworms (phylum Platyhelminthes), roundworms (Nematoda), segmented or “fan” worms (Annelida), and arrow worms (Chaetognatha).

This worm got its name because it looks like a feather duster, of course, but it’s also colored orange, maroon, and brown. The tube is tan and it is made of filtered particles and protein.

Marine worms come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They may be long and thin, plumb and short, flattened and floppy, bright and colorful or dull and dark.