Sabellastarte indica Breeding Guide

How the giant feather duster Sabellastarte indica reproduces sexually by broadcast spawning and asexually by fragmentation; WoRMS treats indica as a synonym of S. spectabilis.

Overview

Sabellastarte indica is an Indo-Pacific feather duster of the family Sabellidae, kept for its cream-and-tan radiole crown. In the World Register of Marine Species the name Sabellastarte indica (Savigny, 1822) is treated as an unaccepted synonym of Sabellastarte spectabilis (Grube, 1878), so its biology is understood through that accepted species. Like other feather dusters it lives in a self-built leathery tube and filter-feeds with its radiole crown.

Reproductive Mode

Following the accepted species, reproduction is both sexual and asexual. Most worms are either male or female, with gametes maturing in the coelom before being released into the water column, and some larger specimens display sequential hermaphroditism.

Asexual Reproduction

The worm can reproduce asexually by fragmentation and regenerate body parts after damage, including regrowing a lost branchial crown. Fragmentation is the practical route by which colonies of feather dusters can increase in an aquarium.

Sexual Reproduction

Fertilisation is external; after a short time in the plankton the trochophore larvae settle out and grow into adult worms. This brief planktonic phase has made the species a target of artificial propagation research.

Common Challenges

Larval rearing in a home tank is impractical, and increase relies chiefly on occasional fragmentation. Plankton-poor water or stress often triggers crown shedding, which is usually followed by regeneration rather than loss of the animal.