James Bayley Butler with the Royal Army Medical Corps, beginning as a lieutenant in 1915 and retiring a major after the war. For his service, he was awarded an MBE. Butler's primary research interest was in applied biology. He carried out research on "Catenaria anguillulae", a parasite of the ova of the liver fluke, from 1922 to 1932. Later on, Butler focused on the control of wood-boring beetles and the fungus that causes dry rot in wood "Serpula lacrymans". On this matter, he became an international expert, and assisted in the development of the company Biotox, which manufactured insecticides and fungicides for use
Serpula vermicularis urchins "Echinus esculentus" and "Psammechinus miliaris", the brittle star "Ophiothrix fragilis", the starfish "Asterias rubens" and the whelk "Buccinum undatum". Red algae grow on the reef in shallow water. The tunicate "Pyura microcosmus" occurs on these reefs, but is seldom seen in other habitats. A large number of cryptic species of microfauna shelter among the tubes. Predators of the worm include sea urchins, starfish, and the wrasses "Crenilabrus melops" and "Ctenolabrus rupestris". Serpula vermicularis Serpula vermicularis, known by common names including the calcareous tubeworm, fan worm, plume worm or red tube worm, is a species of segmented marine polychaete worm