Peanut Worm

Peanut Worm, common name for small, unsegmented marine worms having bulb-shaped bodies and bearing crowns of tentacles on long, slender, processes, called introverts, that can turn inside out. Peanut worms are common but inconspicuous, frequently nestling among shells; they can burrow, but they move slowly. The main part of the body contains a single cavity (the coelom) filled with fluid under pressure from the body musculature. When the introvert turns inside out, the tentacles at its tip are used for feeding on small particles of organic matter. The placement of peanut worms in the animal kingdom is uncertain, but they are probably close to the annelid worms. Little structural diversity exists within the group; about 250 species have been described.

Scientific classification: Peanut worms make up the phylum Sipuncula.