Lugworm
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Lugworm
Invertebrate
A thick, segmented marine worm that spends its life hiding beneath the sand on coastal beaches.
💡 Fun Facts
- They live in U-shaped burrows deep under the wet sand on beaches.
- You can tell they are there by the little squiggly casts of sand they leave on the surface.
- They eat organic matter mixed in with the sand as they dig.
Name Story
Arenicola marina
means “the sand-dweller of the sea”
What does its name mean?
- Arenicola — sand-dwellerLatin (arena, 'sand' + -cola, 'dweller')
- marina — of the seaLatin (mare, 'sea')
- lug — an old word for a large sea-worm (its origin is unclear)English
Its name means exactly how it lives — a "sand-dweller of the sea". Hidden in a U-shaped burrow on the beach, it gives itself away only by the squiggly, coiled cast of sand it pushes up at the surface, which you can spot at low tide.