Fish identification archive / Variegated Feather Duster

Variegated Feather Duster

Bispira melanostigma

Fun facts for your next surface interval

It lives in a tube rather than being a free-swimming worm. [source]
Its complete mitochondrial genome has been published. [source]
The corridor record is attributed to Key Largo, Florida. [source]

Florida and local context

Florent Charpin’s individual photograph page identifies Bispira melanostigma and explicitly places that photograph at Key Largo, Florida.

A documented past record does not establish present abundance or guarantee an encounter.

Sources: Local occurrence record: Key Largo, Florida

How to recognize this animal

Dean’s treatment of a Costa Rican specimen describes a thorax approximately as broad as long and paired eyespots on the crown filaments, or radioles. Crown colour alone does not confirm the species.

Sources: Modern primary species treatment

Size and life stages

The local identification guide lists 0.75 to 1.5 in. (1.8 to 3.8 cm). Its measurement axis and life-stage basis are not stated, so this is a guide value rather than a verified maximum, test diameter, arm span or harvest size.

Sources: Local occurrence record: Key Largo, Florida

Habitat and where to look

The primary paper describes a benthic tube-dwelling worm. The independent corridor evidence is the Key Largo reference photograph.

Sources: Biology reference for Bispira melanostigma; Local occurrence record: Key Largo, Florida

Range and local context

Corridor inclusion is based on Key Largo, Florida. Florent Charpin’s individual photograph page identifies Bispira melanostigma and explicitly places that photograph at Key Largo, Florida. This is a documented occurrence, not a guarantee of a present-day encounter.

Sources: Local occurrence record: Key Largo, Florida

What is on the menu?

The sources checked for this draft do not establish this species’ particular prey or food proportions. A nearby organism in a photograph is not automatically a food item; no diet is inferred from a related species.

Daily habits and behavior

The local record establishes presence at the stated place and time, not a daily activity schedule or encounter probability. Observe in place and record the animal’s substrate and posture; do not provoke a response for a photograph.

Mating and the next generation

Species-specific courtship, egg development and local seasonal timing were not established by the accessed sources. This remains an evidence gap; a general life cycle for the wider group is not substituted for a documented account of this animal.

Look-alikes and identification traps

Specialist confirmation uses microscopic characters: hooklike chaetae with short bases, scooplike companion chaetae, and conical abdominal parapodial lobes bearing chaetae in a C-shaped arrangement. These were not verified in the distant local photograph. Costa Rican collection depth and date do not describe the Key Largo occurrence.

Sources: Modern primary species treatment; WoRMS: accepted identity

Observe without disturbing

Photograph the animal where it lives. Maintain buoyancy and keep fins, hands, lights and equipment clear of it and its substrate. Do not touch, feed, uncover, detach or reposition it. These observation practices do not grant permission to collect.

Harvest, protection and eating safety

Live collection only, where permitted

Listed marine-life group; live-only collection remains subject to location, gear and other restrictions.

This color is a qualified summary, not permission to collect or a guarantee that a particular animal is safe to eat.

Can it be hunted or harvested?

Bispira melanostigma maps to the FWC-listed marine-life group Sabellidae. This is conditional live collection, not food harvest. Keep alive with adequate life support. Recreational saltwater license required; no recreational sale. Daily limit: five per species within 20 total marine-life organisms; possession: ten per species within 40 total. Use permitted collection gear only; do not remove live rock or damagingly detach a host. No annual season or trip clearance is asserted.

Florida seasons and areas

No year-round or current-trip clearance. Blue Heron Bridge mapped dive-site waters are closed to marine-life harvest; nearby Peanut Island records do not establish that exact location. Biscayne ornamental collection requires a superintendent permit. Its separate mapped fishing/possession closure is March 1–May 31, effective March 2026, with properly stowed continuous transit excepted. Key Largo Management Area prohibits collection of these invertebrates; lobster and commercial trap exceptions do not authorize their collection. Sanctuary Preservation Areas prohibit collecting. Check exact boundaries and current park requirements, including Pennekamp, before any take. General state rules do not override these areas.

Can it be speared?

Do not spear a live-only organism. State and federal jurisdictions differ. FWC location restrictions and NOAA Key Largo spearfishing prohibition must be checked independently. Pennekamp is not a spearfishing allowance.

Is it safe to eat?

No exact-species food-safety clearance, meal frequency, or dated species-matched local menu evidence was verified. Recipes remain disabled. Collection legality is not evidence of edibility.

This review covers the Vero Beach–Key Largo Atlantic corridor: Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Florida Atlantic state waters and South Atlantic federal waters are distinct jurisdictions. Do not extend a state-water season tag to federal waters or transfer Atlantic rules to Gulf-side Keys waters. Park and sanctuary boundaries can override a species allowance. FWC expressly states that its marine-life regulations apply in federal waters; this does not erase independent federal restrictions.

Before you act: Confirm the species, date, exact management area, state or federal waters, gear, licenses and current local closures. A local occurrence record never grants permission to take an animal.

Official rules and health guidance

Reviewed 2026-11-11. Rules and advisories can change; check the linked authorities before acting.

Identification and source cautions

Historical occurrence does not establish current abundance, colony survival, or a guaranteed sighting.
No original profile, harvest/legal review, artwork, or publishing has been completed for this candidate.
Observation date was not supplied. Identification follows the named photographer; the specimen was not independently reidentified.
A named diving area is given, not a particular reef or exact dive site.
The exact local photograph is attributed to its source and has not been independently reidentified for this draft.
Biological source access varies: some records were accessible only as an abstract or indexed passage. Independent claim review is required.
No cited photograph is reproduced or licensed by this draft.

Sources and review

Reviewed 2026-11-11; biological claims and this representative illustration independently checked. Photographs on cited sites are reference material and are not reproduced here.

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