It is found dispersed along intertidal and subtidal benthic environments of South Asian waters, especially along the coasts of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.

[8] The adult worm does not leave the tube for the rest of its life cycle, except for brief extensions of the anterior end for feeding on nearby sediments and organisms, and exuding reproductive products.

Many adults of this genus are protandrous sequential hermaphrodites, likely due to the fitness benefits of first existing in a larger male form for competitive advantages in occupying space and prey capture.

[8] Though previously assumed to be gonochoristic, since eggs or sperm (but not both) can be found on the body wall of sexually mature adults, there are now observations of at least 3 species' life cycles in Diopatra known to be protandrous sequential hermaphrodites, indicating it is likely more widespread within the genus, especially since previous accounts suggesting gonochorism do not observe the entire life cycle of the worm.

[8] Diopatra claparedii is a dark, reddish brown polychaete, with many lateral parapodia, as well as specialized sensory appendages such as tentacular cirri and antenna on the anterior end of the worm.

[6] The anterior end of the worm houses several key structures: palps, antennae, a prostomium with a mouth, peristomial cirri, and the characteristic spiraled branchiae that set the genus Diopatra apart from other sedentary polychaetes.

[1][16] Uniquely, the genus Diopatra is defined by a single characteristic that has not changed since the creation of the taxonomic group– the spirally-arranged branchial filaments around the trunk of the worm.