I thought this entry was fitting for the season! I never knew such a creature, the Christmas Tree Worm, existed until I began searching for inspirational photos to get the crochet juices flowing. Their beauty including their many brilliant colors, is astounding!
These photos are samples of many amazing Christmas Tree Worm images found on Google Images. These are a few that inspired my piece.
This one is from the http://frogfishdive.com/index.html
This one is from http://morealtitude.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/biodiversity/
A description from the MARINEBIO website says this about them........
"Christmas tree worms, Spirobranchus giganteus, are Christmas 
tree-shaped serpulid tube-dwelling worms with magnificent twin spirals of plumes used for feeding and respiration. These cone-shaped worms are one of the most widely recognized sedentary polychaete worms . They come in many colors including orange, yellow, blue, and white and, though they are small with an average 3.8 cm in span, they are easily spotted due to their shape, beauty, and color. The colorful plumes, or tentacles, are used for passive feeding on suspended food particles and plankton in the water. The plumes are also used for respiration. Though the plumes are visible, most of these worms is anchored in their burrows that they bore into live calcareous coral. Christmas tree worms are very sensitive to disturbances and will rapidly retract into their burrows at the slightest touch or passing shadow. They typically re-emerge a minute later, very slowly, to test the water before fully extending their plumes."
tree-shaped serpulid tube-dwelling worms with magnificent twin spirals of plumes used for feeding and respiration. These cone-shaped worms are one of the most widely recognized sedentary polychaete worms . They come in many colors including orange, yellow, blue, and white and, though they are small with an average 3.8 cm in span, they are easily spotted due to their shape, beauty, and color. The colorful plumes, or tentacles, are used for passive feeding on suspended food particles and plankton in the water. The plumes are also used for respiration. Though the plumes are visible, most of these worms is anchored in their burrows that they bore into live calcareous coral. Christmas tree worms are very sensitive to disturbances and will rapidly retract into their burrows at the slightest touch or passing shadow. They typically re-emerge a minute later, very slowly, to test the water before fully extending their plumes."
Here is my version.......
Happy Holidays and a Very Happy New Year to you All!
Do you happen to have a pattern for this? This would be perfect for my university's crochet coral reef!
ReplyDeleteHi Britt, I sent you an email about this but not sure if you got it so posting a reply here as well.
DeleteI did this as a free form however there are a number of free crochet christmas tree patterns out there that I looked at to help me with this one.
Here's a link to one you might try.
http://www.enfys.me.uk/freechristmastree.htm
Good luck!