Sand-worm

Sand-worm, a general name for any of the numerous worms living in the sand of the shore. Most of them are Chætopods, with setæ on their feet, but the title might also include forms without setæ, such as the Nemerteans and the Sipunculids. The fisherman's Lobworm (q.v.) is one of the most important of the more sedentary sand-worms; the tubes of Terebella conchilega—mostly composed of fragments of shell—are familiar on the flat beach; while hidden under stones or burrowing deeply in the sand there are numerous species of errant Chætopods, belonging to the genera Nereis, Nephtys, Polynoe, Syllis, &c.