Welcome to the Marine Mili series, a regular column about all things marine! During this series I aim to inspire people to want to protect our oceans and all the marine life that call our oceans home. Hopefully after reading each column, you would have learnt something new including what we can do to help protect and preserve our oceans. You can follow me and my journey on my Instagram page: _marine_mili.

Fan worms are a species of marine worm which are particularly abundant in Victoria. These fan worms are found in large colonies commonly seen under piers by the pylons, especially in areas like Port Phillip Bay.

The European fan worm is an invasive species in Victoria. It is not a native species to the area but is now becoming overpopulated and taking over local species. This marine pest can form large colonies which then causes the local species to fight with it for food and other essentials.

You may be wondering why is it a problem if the European fan worms inhabit Port Phillip Bay alongside the native species?

Well, the answer is the native species aren’t just going to up and go when the invasive species chooses to move in. So then we have double the population of fan worms in the area which can lead to ecological disruptions.

An ecological disruption that may be caused by the European fan worm could include reduced nutrients in the water, as all the plankton would be getting consumed by the fan worms.

The European fan worm is a flexible species with their tube able to grow to up to 30 centimetres in length, and their feeding tentacles able to grow to about 20 centimetres in length when fully extended.