The palolo worm makes its home “in the shallow reef, where it uses its sizable jaws to dig itself a burrow in the limestone substrate. Most of the year it lives quietly, feeding on algae and microorganisms, small crustaceans, and even its own young.”

Can we eat palolo worms?

The palolo is the edible portion of a polychaete worm, and the mating season of the palolo follows the lunar cycle — typically on the seventh night after the October full moon.

Where does the palolo worm come from?

Palola viridis, commonly known as the palolo worm, Samoan palolo worm, wawo or nyale, is a Polychaeta species from the waters of some of the Pacific islands, including Samoa, Vanuatu, and the islands of the Malaysian Archipelago (Indonesia and the Philippines).