Christmas trees are one of the best symbols in lieu of celebrating the birth of Christ. This holiday season try a new way of celebrating it. Try underwater, go scuba diving and enjoy the seabed’s delightful sites which are connected to Christmas celebration. Here are some awesomely beautiful and captivating macro shots of Christmas tree worms or scientifically known as Spirobranchus giganteus. Starfish are an added attraction too.

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Christmas tree worms are found on coral reefs in tropical waters worldwide. Their natural beauty is incomparable and will make you fall in love.

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Extra care should be observed in order for one to take a good shot of these wonderful creations of nature. These brightly colored Spirobranchus giganteus are embedded in a brain coral in a reef in Bonaire.

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The cone-like shape with magnificent twin spiral plumage of this serpulid tube-dwelling worm has earned the name “Christmas tree worm” among divers and aquarists. The colorful tentacles are used for feeding on passing suspended particles and for respiration. Much of the worm is anchored in its burrow, a hole bored into a live calcareous coral. 

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These minute organisms worms come in different colors like these yellow-orange twin Christmas tree worms.

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Beautiful color combination like white and blue of these unique sea creatures can also be found.

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Christmas tree worms can also be found in cluster with varying colors which make them more attractive and fun to look at.

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Here is another cluster of Christmas Tree Worms. These tiny creatures live in tropical marine reefs and filter food from the surrounding waters, a bit like anemones.

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At the slightest sign of danger, the Christmas tree worm can duck its head back into the tube. At the top of the worm’s head are two “antennae” which are called radioles. The radioles serve two main functions: to catch plankton and to act like gills, allowing the worm to breathe.

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These seabed organisms are capable of changing color, although the worms are thought not to use this for camouflage purposes. Their natural protection is speed – as mentioned, just the merest hint of a shadow or a disturbance in the current will cause them to hide.

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These small worms are very sensitive to movement, and will pull their plumes back into their burrows at the slightest hint of danger.

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These peculiar worms are invertebrates, meaning they lack backbones. Like other tube-dwelling worms, Christmas Tree Worms are polychaetes.

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The bronchial plumes of a Christmas Tree Worm extend from its burrow to gather oxygen from the surrounding waters.

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Spirobranchus giganteus, commonly known as Christmas tree worms are small, tube-building polychaete worms belonging to the family Serpulidae.

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Like the “Tickle Me Plant”, Christmas Tree Worms are very shy. When they are disturbed, they can retract back inside of the tube in the coral very quickly. They are found on the surface of corals. They will let the coral grow around them to encase them in a tube for protection.

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They can be found with their tubes attached to corals in depths of up to 40 feet.

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Christmas tree worms are popular addition to aquarium. Christmas tree worms are not for a beginning aquarist for they are very fragile and should only be taken cared of by experience aquarists.

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These organisms are only about an inch in size and found on seabed up to 40 ft deep.

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This photo is taken from Great Barrier Reef

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Here are some additional spectacular and lovely pictures of Christmas Tree Worms

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Don’t forget to add a star to these wonderful Christmas trees underneath the water to make them more beautiful and more attractive, after all, there are about 1,800 species of sea star or starfish with varying colors, designs and sizes.

Happy Holidays to one and all!!!

For more amazing marine creatures see

25 Amazing and Bizarre Deep Sea Creatures

World’s Most Brightly Colored Fishes

10 Amazing Sea Creatures

Giant Creatures of the Deep-Sea

Beauty and the Beast: 20 Most Venomous Fishes in the World

Amazing Flying Sea Creatures

Waterworld Creatures With Wings

Aquatic Animals with the Most Prominent and Longest Snouts