Purple nemertean, low tide, under a stone, Pilot Bay, Mt. Maunganui, 25/12/19. |
The same nemertean as above. |
Orange nemertean, Tamaki Drive, Auckland. |
Orange nemertean, low tide, North Piha, west Auckland, 27/04/17 |
Elsewhere, nemerteans are thought to be carnivores and/or scavengers. The larger ones move through peristaltic movements of their body wall muscles—this is shown quite nicely in the two video clips. When they encounter potential food/prey they can rapidly evert a long proboscis. The proboscis is used to immobilise the prey with toxins. These toxins are thought to have medical potential (von Remont, et al., 2014; Göransson, et al., 2019).
These video clips are of a nemertean found under a stone in Pilot Bay, Mt. Maunganui during 2018. The species is similar to the undescribed species shown by Cook (2010) on p281.
More info:
Cook, S. (2010). New Zealand Coastal Invertebrates, Canterbury University Press.
Göransson, U., Jacobsson, E., Strand, M., Andersson, H. K. (2019). The toxins of nemertean worms. Toxins, 11, 1–36.
Taylor, R. B., Morrison, A. (2008). Soft-sediment habitats and fauna of Omaha Bay, northeastern New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 38(3), 187–214.
von Reumont, B. J., Campbell, L. I., Jenner, R. A. (2014). Quo Vadis Venomics? A Roadmap to Neglected Venomous Invertebrates. Toxins, 6, 3488–3551.