The Mode of Life of<i>Arenicola Marina</i>L.

The present paper attempts to synthesize, partly from field observations and partly from laboratory studies of the lugworm's activities, a coherent picture of its daily life.

Abstract

Large, common, tough, the lugworm is an outstandingly good object for anatomical and physiological work. Its mode of life has not yet been clearly worked out, and one must know how an animal lives if one wishes to understand its structural and functional peculiarities. Burrowing as it does in muddy sand, the lugworm cannot be watched under natural conditions (except on the rare-occasions when itshows itself on the surface). Existing accounts of its behaviour inthe field are therefore practically confined to the form of the burrow which it excavates. The present paper attempts to synthesize, partly from field observations and partly from laboratory studies ofthe worm's activities, a coherent picture of its daily life.