Lugworm

Lugworm - Arenicola marina.
Lugworm casts on West Kirkby Beach, Merseyside. The worms live in a U-shaped burrow and ingest the sandy mud at one end, and excrete digested sand at the other. They digest the micro-organisms in the sand in a similar way that earthworms process soil. Lugworms help to make up the food chain of the Dee Estuary which sustains a large bird population.