Family Glyceridae "blood worm"
Distribution: Sungei Buloh, Pulau Semakau, Kallang Basin, Singapore River, Sungei Punggol
The glycerids burrow in sandy or muddy substrata by means of their eversible proboscis. They are very active worms and when dug out, they lash about vigorously and shoot out a proboscis almost half as long as their body. The purpose of burrow construction is for prey capture. The glycerids detect the hydrostatic change within the burrow when motile polychaetes or crustaceans move across the burrow system and thus shoot out their proboscis and grab its prey. Motile prey are preferred to sessile ones and tubicolous animals are not attacked. They are mainly carnivorous. They are mainly found from intertidal to abyssal depths found free-living on rocks and algal mats or actively burrowed into sand or mud substrates. Those in abyssal depths are detritivores. They are cylindrical in shape.
Species found in Singapore include:
- Glycera convoluta
- Glycera rouxii
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