CreatureData

Whip mudworm

Polydora cornuta Bosc, 1802

Status not recordedworms

The whip mudworm (Polydora cornuta) is a species in the family Spionidae.

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Quick facts about the whip mudworm

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the whip mudworm live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the whip mudworm as introduced in 10 countries, and flagged as invasive in 3 of them.

  1. Romaniainvasive
  2. Türkiyeinvasive
  3. Ukraineinvasive
  4. Argentina
  5. Australia
  6. Brazil
  7. Bulgaria
  8. Greece
  9. Mexico
  10. New Zealand

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the whip mudworm endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the whip mudworm classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumAnnelida
  3. classPolychaeta
  4. familySpionidae
  5. genusPolydora
  6. SpeciesPolydora cornuta Bosc, 1802

Synonyms Polydora amarincola, Polydora ciliata, Polydora cornuta, Polydora ligni, Polydora littorea, Spio caudatus

Other names and names in other languages (5)
  • Polydora mud wormEnglish
  • Holzbohrender PolydorawurmGerman
  • Polydore cornueFrench
  • 角才女蟲Chinese
  • Holzbohrender Polydora-WurmGerman

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the whip mudworm

Other species in the same genus Polydora.

CompareWhip mudworm vs BristlewormWhip mudworm vs Polydora aggregataWhip mudworm vs Polydora alloporisWhip mudworm vs Polydora anophthalma

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the whip mudworm an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the whip mudworm as invasive in 3 countries: Romania, Türkiye and Ukraine. It lists it as introduced in 10 in all.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Whip mudworm (Polydora cornuta). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/whip-mudworm

MLA

“Whip mudworm (Polydora cornuta).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/whip-mudworm.

BibTeX
@misc{whip_mudworm_2026,
  title = {Whip mudworm (Polydora cornuta)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/whip-mudworm},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}