The gossamer worm (Tomopteris, Neo-Latin from Greek meaning "a cut" + "wing" but taken to mean "fin")[3] is a genus of marine planktonic polychaetes.
All described species are known to be holoplanktic, meaning that they spend their entire life cycles in the water column.[4]
E. Newton Harvey had noted the unusual yellow bioluminescence[5] occurring from the parapodia. There are very few known marine animals that exhibit yellow luminescence.[6][7] Many species of plankton are known to display this property of bioluminescence.[8] The mechanisms of this process are not well understood; only that they do not use any of the currently known luciferins.
If disturbed, a few species are known to release bioluminescent particles from their parapodia, though possibly all species of Tomopteris do this. It is thought that this mode is to distract predators, analogous to chaff or flares dispensed from military aircraft during evasive maneuvers.
Generally, gossamer worms grow to only a few centimeters in overall length, or 20 millimetres (0.79 in) to 40 millimetres (1.6 in) in total length, though this is likely to reflect the size of those amenable to being caught in trawl nets.[9]
^ITIS Standard Report Page: Tomopteris
^Die pelagische Thierwelt in grösseren Meerestiefen und ihre Beziehungen zu der Oberflächenfauna. K Chun, 1888
^Definition: tomopteris from Online Medical Dictionary
^Fernandez-Alamo, MA (2000). "Tomopterids (Annelida: Polychaeta) from the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean". Bulletin of Marine Science. 67 (1): 45–53.
^Harvey, Edmund Newton (1952). Bioluminescence. Academic Press.
^"tomopteris". UCSB. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
^Tomopteris picture
^Dales, R Phillips (1971). "Bioluminescence in Pelagic Polychaetes". Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. 28 (10): 1487–1489. doi:10.1139/f71-228.
^"Tomopteris helgolandica". Species-Identification. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
Page: Tomopteris Die pelagische Thierwelt in grösseren Meerestiefen und ihre Beziehungen zu der Oberflächenfauna. K Chun, 1888 Definition: tomopteris from...
(arrow worms) Caecosagitta macrocephala Eukrohnia fowleri Annelida Genus Tomopteris Genus Swima Certain Polynoidae Mollusca Certain Bivalves (clams) Plocamopherus...
luminous deep sea animals, including the vampire squid, the polychaete worm Tomopteris that generates yellow light, the jellyfish Atolla, the comb jelly Beroe...
holopelagic polychaetes belonging to the order Phyllodocida. The genus Tomopteris consist of about 70 species, and the three other genera of one known species...
However, some loose-jawed fish emit red and infrared light, and the genus Tomopteris emits yellow light. The most frequently encountered bioluminescent organisms...
groups is unclear. It bears some similarity to the living polychaete worm Tomopteris and Amphinomidae, but its lack of chaetae, along with other lines of evidence...
further their research. In 1853 Philip Henry Gosse named the marine species Tomopteris (Johnstonella) catharina in her honor stating: The crystalline Johnstonella:...
Travisiopsis. 2 species Flattened pelagic forms with long cirri on segment-two. Tomopteris 2 species Cylindrical forms with a conical prostomium and four jaws. Glycera...
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