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Pacific palolo worm

Palola viridis

  • Other invertebrates
  • IUCN: Data deficient
  • Usual depth15–26 m
  • Water temperature24–29 °C
  • Best monthsMarch
  • How commonRare
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About this species

Palola viridis, commonly known as the palolo worm, Samoan palolo worm, balolo, wawo, or nyale, is a Polychaeta species from the waters of some of the Pacific islands, including Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and the islands of the maritime Southeast Asia.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Palola viridis”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

  • January: 0 records
  • February: 2 records
  • March: 10 records
  • April: 3 records
  • May: 0 records
  • June: 0 records
  • July: 1 records
  • August: 0 records
  • September: 0 records
  • October: 0 records
  • November: 2 records
  • December: 0 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 15–26 m · Deepest record: 26 m

  • 10–20 m: 1 records
  • 20–30 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–29 °C

  • 24–26 °C: 7 records
  • 26–28 °C: 8 records
  • 28–30 °C: 3 records

Names and classification

English
Pacific palolo worm, Samoan palolo worm
Names in 2 more languages
German
Samoa-Palolo
French
Ver palolo

Other scientific names: Leodice viridis, Lysidice palola, Palolo viridis

Similar species

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

  • Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
  • Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
  • Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
  • 36 open-data records from 2009 to 2023.

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