Chaetogaster (Annelida) Movies

Chaetogaster Video No. 1 - A hungry chaetogaster gobbles up a tiny organism, whose journey through the digestive system is visible through the worm's translucent body; under oblique illumination with a playing time of 48.2 seconds. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 28.8k (modem), 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL, or download this video clip in MPEG format (20.2 MB).

Chaetogaster Video No. 2 - A chaetogaster worm hunts and consumes several microorganisms, several sets of setae are visible in this movie; under oblique illumination with a playing time of 46.1 seconds. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 28.8k (modem), 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL, or download this video clip in MPEG format (19.6 MB).

Chaetogaster Video No. 3 - One lucky microorganism makes a narrow escape when a chaetogaster lunges after it; under oblique illumination with a playing time of 7.7 seconds. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 28.8k (modem), 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL, or download this video clip in MPEG format (3.69 MB).

Chaetogaster Video No. 4 - The inner workings of this translucent freshwater worm are easily viewed as it stalks potential prey from behind a piece of debris; under oblique illumination with a playing time of 42.6 seconds. Choose a playback format that matches your connection speed: 28.8k (modem), 56.6k (modem), or T1/Cable/DSL, or download this video clip in MPEG format (17.8 MB).

Chaetogaster is a genus of freshwater worms that belongs to the annelid family, Naididae. Like other members of the class Oligochaeta, such as the common earthworm, this tiny naidid has sets of bristles, called setae or chaetae, located along the outside of its body. Chaetogaster species are predators, actively hunting and consuming smaller organisms. One species, Chaetogaster limnaei, is a parasite of snails and in the 1990s was also found to be parasitizing zebra mussels, an exotic invasive species that has been spreading throughout North American waterways.