Pectinereis strickrotti belongs to Nereididae, a family of over 700 accepted species of segmented, mostly-marine worms.
Commonly called ragworms, these creatures generally known from coastal regions, commonly confined to shallow marine habitats, although they also occur in brackish, freshwater, and even moist terrestrial environments.
However, approximately 10% of the total diversity is known from deep-sea habitats.
These worms have very elongated bodies with rows of bristled parapodia on their sides and a hidden set of pincer-shaped jaws that can be extruded for feeding.
Many species of ragworms also have two distinct life stages: atoke and epitoke.
In these species, the worm spends most of its life on the seafloor, often in a burrow, as a sexually immature atoke, but in their life’s final act they transform into sexually mature epitokes that swim up off th
