Split-branch Feather Duster Worm

Schizobranchia insignis is a marine feather duster worm. It may be commonly known as the split-branch feather duster, split-plume feather duster, and the feather duster worm. It may be found from Alaska to Central California, living on pilings and rocks, intertidal to 46 m. It is particularly abundant on the underside of wharves in Puget Sound, Washington, and on wharves at Boston Harbor marina.

Specimens of S. insignis are generally 10–20 cm long, and 5–10 mm in diameter, with tubes which are whitish and pliable. The tentacular crown is uniform orange, red, mauve, tan, brown, grey, or green in color. Among sabellids of the Pacific Northwest, S. insignis is unique in that all radioles are dichotomously branched at least once. Radioles of Eudistylia polymorpha are not branched, and only a few of the radioles of E. vancouveri are branched.