Mystery Aquatic Tubes


I would like to determine what these are as specifically as possible, but would also like to know of what broader taxa they are representative. Any comments will be much appreciated. Email: ceiseman(AT)gmail(DOT)com

1. Belchertown, MA - 3 mm wide, 54 mm long. Submerged; projecting from sediment near the edge of a pond. Note the swollen portion at the base of the dug-up tubes in the second photo. I know tubificids would be found in a similar habitat, but am not sure what their tubes would look like--are they composed solely of a secretion, rather than covered with sediment like this? If these are not worms, the alternatives I'm aware of are midges (Chironomidae), crane flies (Tipulidae), and caddisflies (Phylocentropus; I'm pretty sure these aren't those). If you're familiar with the tubes of any of these insects, please let me know how they compare.

2. Cape Cod, MA - 2 mm wide; large numbers of these projecting from sand at low tide. Owenia, Pectinaria, maldanids, and unspecified crustaceans have been mentioned as possibilities.

2b. This image was taken by a friend in the exact same location. He gives the outside diameter as 5 mm, inside diameter 2 mm, and height 32 mm.

2c. These 1 mm-wide horizontal tubes were concentrated between ripples in the beach in a different part of the Cape. My impression at the time was that they had washed up, but looking at the photo now they appear to be burrows that disappear into the sand...

3. Cape Cod, MA - This has been identified as Diopatra cuprea. Does anything else in North America do something similar?

4. Burlington, VT - I sometimes find burrows like this associated with earthworm signs, but I have never been able to confirm that earthworms make them-- I have only found beetles in these linear tunnels that resemble miniature mole burrows. Do earthworms ever make long burrows just under the surface like this?

Thanks for taking the time to look at these!

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All images on this web site © 2008 by Charley Eiseman