---
title: "Spirobranchus carinifer"
description: "Spirobranchus cariniferus — Autres animaux. Spirobranchus cariniferus, commonly known as the blue tubeworm or spiny tubeworm, or by its Māori name toke pā, is a species of tube-building polychaete worm endemic to New Zealand."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/fr/animal/blue-tube-worm
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Spirobranchus carinifer

> Spirobranchus cariniferus — Autres animaux. Spirobranchus cariniferus, commonly known as the blue tubeworm or spiny tubeworm, or by its Māori name toke pā, is a species of tube-building polychaete worm endemic to New Zealand.

- Scientific name: *Spirobranchus cariniferus*
- Category: `other` (Autres animaux)
- Habitats: `sea` (Mer et côte)
- iNaturalist observations: 1125
- Wikidata: [Q2517079](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2517079)
- iNaturalist taxon: [397374](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/397374)

## Names

- en: Blue Tube Worm
- es: Spirobranchus carinifer
- fr: Spirobranchus carinifer
- it: Spirobranchus carinifer
- pt: Spirobranchus carinifer
- pl: Spirobranchus carinifer

## Countries with the most observations

NZ (1048)

## Summary

Spirobranchus cariniferus, commonly known as the blue tubeworm or spiny tubeworm, or by its Māori name toke pā, is a species of tube-building polychaete worm endemic to New Zealand.
This species forms patchy, belt-like colonies of hard, white, triangular tubes, each containing a bright blue worm. These are cemented to the shaded side of rocks in the lower to mid-tidal zone. It may also inhabit hard objects such as dead shells and small stones. When submerged, it puts out a fan of dark-blue tentacles to feed, which it retracts during low tide.
Individuals living in Dunedin's Otago Harbour are the only polychaetes known…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirobranchus_cariniferus

## Photo

![Spirobranchus carinifer](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/blue-tube-worm/medium.jpg)

Photo: Christine Braaten · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/142052021

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/blue-tube-worm?lang=fr` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).