Physical description: 

The Arctonoe vittata (formerly known as Halosydna lordi) usually have around 25

or more pairs of scale, which they sometimes shed when they are
disturbed. Arctonoe grows up to 8cm to 10 cm long and is usually light yellow.
However the color may change depending on its host. Scientists do not know wether
this is due to a certain compound on the host that changes their color, or wether it is
because they basically eat the same thing, but the scale worm usually very lightly
changes its color according to its host.
Distribution in the world: Scale worms live in the North Pacific ocean. It is one of the
most studied worms and it has been mostly studied near the coasts of Japan and
also near Kamtchaka, far east Russia. It also lives in the north west coast of North
America, including the coast of British Columbia. It lives mostly in salt water and
almost never in fresh water.
Biotic Associations: The Arctonoe vittata a commensal worm, lives on other species. It
observes a positive relationship with its host, notably the starfish Asterias
amurensis or the mollusc keyhole limpet Diadora aspera It usually lives near the oral
part of its host, and when there are two A.vittatathere, the other one will live on the
arm if it is living on a starfish. The length of the worm is big considering the size of its
host, sometimes its ends almost touch when it is curled up on the oral orifice. It
mostly likes to live on larger hosts because they are older and more exposed to
plankton. If the A.vittata is living on the keyhole limpet, and the keyhole gets attacked
by a starfish, the worm will sense that the demise of its host will lead to its own
demise. Thus it will bite the seastar’s tube feet and cause it to withdraw. The scale
worm is attracted to chemicals released by it’s host. It is interesting to note that the
host is also attracted by chemicals released by the commensal worm. The
commensal worms seemed to have a different taste for their host depending on
which part of the world they came from. However, the limpet Acmaea pallida was the
overall favorite host.
Interesting local behavior: Some scale worms have been spotted on seastars. They were
colored white, the same as the underside of the star. There have also been some
scale worms spotted on sea cucumbers, they were of a reddish color, and were the
Red commensal scale worm Arctonoe pulchra
Reproduction and feeding: The A.vittata bites off the food that is left over from the side of
the mouth of its host. They are usually fatter if they are located near the mouth of the
host. The worms are hermaphrodites. The worm will leave eggs on its host, some
grow there, usually the first ones. The rest will move to a different host because
there is too much competition with the one that is already there.

Every month we showcase a relationship between two or more species or groups of

species that can be considered a mutualism: a relationship where both members
benefit. This month’s mutualism is between several species of North American
crayfish and a group of cleaner-worms!
The two groups engage in a cleaning symbiosis, where the worms keep the carapace
(the outer shell of the crayfish) and particularly the crayfish's gills clean of parasites,
detritus, dead tissue, and epibionts (non-parasitic animals that grow on other animals).
Cleaning symbioses are considered one of the quintessential classic mutualisms: the
client species gets parasites removed while the cleaner species is fed.