Megascolides australis is the largest worm in the world. The largest worm in the world: description, habitat, features, photos

Megascolides australis(lat.) - a species of oligochaete worms of the family Megascolecidae, common in Australia. It was discovered in 1878 by Frederick McCoy in Gippsland in Victoria. The worm reaches a length of 80 cm to 3 m.

The species is endemic to the area around the Bass River in southern Gippsland. The area of ​​the habitat is 40,000 hectares, forming a triangle between settlements Loch, Korumburra and Warragul. Worms very rarely appear on the surface of the earth. They live in moist soil at a distance of 40 meters from the river bank. In some places they are found very often, up to 10 individuals per 1 cubic meter of soil.

Worms(Gippslands) feed on roots and plant detritus. When in danger, they take refuge in burrows that go 1-1.5 meters deep. Living tunnels are often kept damp. The presence of worms can be determined by the characteristic noise that occurs when the worms return to their homes. Megascolides australis is a long-lived worm with relatively slow metagenesis. Research has shown that puberty worms begin in the fifth year. For this reason, worms cannot always quickly adapt to changes in the environment.

Worms They are hermaphrodites, but they need a partner to reproduce. The worm lays an amber-colored cocoon with an egg 5 to 9 cm long in chambers adjacent to the tunnel, at a depth of approximately 22 cm from the surface of the earth. From each cocoon, after about 12 months, only one worm emerges.

Gippslands are quite fragile - careless handling can kill them. Only moist soil is suitable for them to live. certain type. If you walk on the ground above their water-filled burrows, they will react to the vibration from your steps - they will begin to crawl and make squelching sounds that are quite easy to hear. So even if you consider that giant gypsums are quite rare, you will know that they are near you.

Giant Gippslands lay huge cocoon eggs that look like brown bean pods. The worm lays only one egg at a time, and it takes a whole year for it to hatch. Baby giant gippslands reach 18 cm in length and take about five years to grow to their maximum length. It is not known exactly how long they live, but according to preliminary estimates, about 20 years.

Despite their impressive size, there are few giant Gippslands in Australia due to the fact that their houses are easy to destroy and they reproduce slowly. Worms are listed in the Red Book as a vulnerable endangered species.

Australian giants earthworms protected by the state. An annual festival was even organized in their honor - "Karmai" (as the worm is called by the aborigines).

But that's not all the honors. An attraction museum was built in his honor in 1985. It is a huge 100-meter building in the shape of an earthworm.

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Disgusting animals that can be both harmful and useful. We're talking about worms. Many, at the sight of this creeping creature, will shudder and squint, while others, on the contrary, consider these creatures cute and do not even hesitate to pick them up.

Belated maturity

The most interesting thing is that giant worms They mature quite late, by animal standards. This period begins only in the fifth year of their life. And after another year, they acquire the ability to lay eggs (it is worth noting that worms are hermaphrodites). After another year, larvae emerge from the eggs. Their length is also quite impressive - about twenty centimeters.

\ What is the purpose of worms? Charles Darwin himself told the world about them for the first time. So, these animals help moisten, mix and aerate the earth. They move in the soil, pushing it apart, or swallowing the soil and passing it through their body. Boneless prefer a wet bud, since in a dry one their activity is significantly slowed down, and sometimes stops altogether.

Glowing Monsters

Australians are very happy to be next door to such a giant animal. And this is even despite the fact that during its journey underground the worm makes a kind of snorting noise that is clearly audible to people on the surface. But this is nothing compared to the amount of soil an animal cultivates when making its own burrows.

Anecdotal evidence but generally accepted fact is that the most long worms can be found not only in Australia, but also in New Zealand. The length of individuals can reach five meters, and these monsters glow in the dark. Instances are also found in South Africa. Maximum length the largest worm was 6.5 meters. He was caught in 1967.

However, mutants have also been found in China. True, their size was not so impressive. In Xipun province, a local resident on the estate of Li Wong discovered an animal about half a meter long. The worm was half-dead and the finder thought it was a snake. However, upon careful study, it became clear that this was an ordinary earthworm. The same one that most fishermen in Russia use as live bait. By the way, as experts said after the discovery, tall worms promote favorable climatic conditions, as well as the level of radiation and the amount of harmful chemicals in the soil. Record holders were also found in Russia, cases were recorded in the Urals and the Caucasus.

Longer than a blue whale

It turns out that the longest animal in the world is the tapeworm Lineus longissimus. It can grow up to sixty meters. It turns out that the specimen is twice the length of a blue whale and a third the length of a hairy jellyfish. The tapeworm belongs to the group of nemertean worms, which means “sea nymph”.

Scientists know about a thousand species of such worms. And almost all of them - Marine life. The animals' bodies are long and thin, and can only be two millimeters in diameter. In worms it is noted unique ability– they can stretch to their full length. If the body is not elongated, then it is about 30 meters. And the boneless one is more like a long huge tourniquet.

The tapeworm's body is made up of muscles. They pump blood, because the animal does not have a heart. Individuals are considered the most primitive organisms, and at the same time dangerous and voracious predators. In order to catch its prey, the animal shoots a long tube with poisonous sticky hooks. Many of these worms do not differ in color from the darkness water depths. However, there are also those that have quite bright colors. Tapeworms recover well from damage, and some even reproduce by dividing into parts.

Helminths

Flatworms

The longest of the worms is a representative of nemerteans - Lineus longissimum. It lives in the seas of the Northwest Atlantic. In 1864, after a storm, one specimen, 55 meters long and one centimeter in diameter, washed up on the coast of Scotland.

However, the longest worm can have a length that a person cannot even imagine. The Lenius worm lives in deep solitude, and in the literal sense of the word, at the very bottom Atlantic Ocean. They lead a bottom-dwelling lifestyle and roll their bodies into balls. Perhaps in order to leave your entire body safe and sound in the visibility zone, and also so as not to lose control over your oblong body. Lineus are unusually long and thin. They can grow up to 20-30 meters.

Delicious worm

However, there are worms that are not at all disgusting, which you can pick up and even swallow without a shudder. Here we're talking about and edible worms. And this is not a creation of nature, but a product of confectioners. Every child has eaten such a marmalade miracle at least once in their life. True, usually the yummy does not exceed 10 centimeters. However, a truly endless delicacy has been invented especially for those with a sweet tooth. The longest gummy worm has grown to a record 66 centimeters. It weighs 1.3 kg. Otherwise, the sweet worm is no different from its relatives.
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However, they can cause enormous harm to health because they surround themselves with cysts, which sometimes reach 20 cm in diameter and weigh up to 1 kg.

The longest worms include some species from the order of tapeworms and tapeworms. Among the nematodes there are also giants, for example, the pork roundworm (the female’s body length can reach 49 cm).

• Pork tapeworm (5 m).
• Bull tapeworm (12 m).
• The tapeworm is wide (15 m).

Wide tapeworm

Bull tapeworm

The body of the tapeworm consists of a scolex and numerous segments. As the worm develops, the latter mature (proglottids) and fall off, excreted in the feces. external environment. The number of segments of an adult individual can reach 1000 units. Average length each proglottid - from 16 to 30 mm, from which we can conclude that when favorable conditions habitat, this tapeworm can reach a length of 23 meters. However, in practice, such individuals have not been encountered, so in the ranking of record holders, the bull tapeworm is in second place.

Pork tapeworm

Infection occurs when eating corned beef and undercooked or undercooked pork. The main symptoms are characterized by pain in the epigastrium and lower intestines, often accompanied by signs of acute food poisoning, but all these manifestations are characteristic of the later stages of the disease. At the initial stage of development, the disease can proceed for a very long time without any symptoms.

Roundworms

• (Ascaris lumbricoides).
• Pork roundworm (Ascaris suum, causes the disease Larva migrans).
• Canine roundworm (Toxocara).

The greatest danger to human health is represented by advanced forms of ascariasis. When there are too many worms, they begin to get tangled together, forming tight balls that can no longer come out when drug treatment, clog the intestines, causing obstruction. Surgery is required to remove them.

Unconfirmed facts

In means mass media There are references to cases where tapeworms were found in humans, reaching a length of 25 and even 33 meters. But these data have not been officially confirmed in any way, so their reliability can be doubted.

The largest earthworm living on the planet, according to officially confirmed information, was found in South Africa and its length is about 7 meters!

In our country, of course, there are such large individuals An individual 30 centimeters long is not found and is considered gigantic. Australia can boast of even larger worms; specimens one and a half to two meters long live there and are quite common!

These creatures can bring both benefit and harm. Very often, when the conversation turns to worms, many people have a feeling of disgust and disgust, while others think that they are cute creatures and are happy to pick them up.

Habitat and life activities

The earthworm is a representative of the order Haplotaxida, suborder oligochaetes. On the Planet they can be found on almost all continents. The only place on earth where they have not been found is Antarctica, since permafrost prevents them from existing and reproducing normally. Typically, the length of these animals varies from 2 cm to 3 m. As we said earlier, the largest representatives of this species live in South Africa and Australia.

Many will probably be surprised, but earthworms are distinguished by their longevity. It is not uncommon for individuals to be about 10 years old. Giant worms, unlike the snakes with which they are sometimes confused, do not pose any danger to humans.

Interestingly enough, the giant worm reaches maturity quite late when compared to other animals. Adulthood begins only in the fifth year of their life. And only after another year they are able to lay eggs. Even the largest worms can reproduce independently without a pair, i.e. they are hermaphrodites. After another year, small worms begin to appear from the eggs, if you can call them that, of course, because their length is very often more than 20 centimeters.

These animals are very useful, their vital activity helps improve soil fertility. They move in the ground, like their usual small counterparts, in two ways. The first is by pushing it apart and the second by swallowing it and then passing it through the entire body. They prefer to live in places with wet soil, since in dry soil their life activities become significantly more complicated or simply impossible.

Australian giant worm

Some people, seeing a huge worm, one and a half to two meters in size, crawling, may be scared, but this is completely in vain, they are completely harmless.

If you ask a simple riddle - it crawls on the ground, about a meter long, up to three centimeters thick, no legs, what is it? Most will say it's a snake or viper. And of course, it’s not a snake that’s mistaken - it’s some of the biggest worms - gypsum worms. This species was found in the Australian city of Gippsland and is considered the largest of all living on the planet. If an adult of this species stretches out, the size of the worm can reach 2 m.

Despite their impressive size and frightening appearance, these crawling giant creatures are extremely gentle. It is quite difficult to find them, because almost their entire lives they are deep in the ground. It has been established that the wetter the soil, the easier it is to breathe. These large worms dig holes at a depth of about ten centimeters. During prolonged downpours these big worms can leave their cozy shelters and get to the surface. In turn, their burrows can be discovered when a landslide occurs.

Long Gippsland worms are quite fragile - careless handling of them can lead to their death. They can only live in a certain type of moist soil.

If you walk on the ground directly above their water-filled burrows, then in response to the noise of footsteps, they can become frightened and begin to move, making sounds similar to squelching and being quite loud. Meeting them is very rare, but if one happens, you will hear.

A large Gippsland worm lays large cocoon eggs that resemble bean pods Brown. A year must pass before small worms emerge from them. The length of newborns is about 20 cm. They grow slowly and reach their maximum size in about 5 years. It is uncertain exactly how long they live, but some sources indicate 20 years or even a little more.

Despite their impressive size, these worms are few in number due to the fact that their burrows are often destroyed and reproduction is slow. This species is listed in the Red Book.

This video talks about giant worms. Their habitats and life activities.

Megascolides australis is the largest worm in the world. Its length can reach up to 3 m and its diameter up to 20 mm. The giant lives in the south of Gippsland near the Bass River (Australia, Victoria).

This species of earthworm belongs to the family Megascolecidae. As a rule, the giant worm digs holes no more than 1.5 m deep and about 20 mm in diameter. Usually does not crawl further than 40 m from the Bass River. The worm can glow in the dark, and while moving underground it emits a kind of snorting sound, which, if it is shallow, can be easily heard on the surface.

Prefers wet soil, since than more water in the soil, the easier it is for him to breathe. However, in case heavy rains, he has to get to the surface. The largest worm in the world eats dead organic substances and plant roots.

Life expectancy can be 10-20 years, but accurate information is not available this moment does not exist. Interestingly, puberty occurs only after 5 years, when the ability to lay eggs appears. A year after the egg was laid, only one larva measuring 18-20 cm appears.

Megascolides australis was first described by British scientist Frederick McCoy in 1878. In the Australian city of Korumburra, a festival called Karmai is held annually in honor of the giant worm. Translated from the Aboriginal language, this means a huge worm. During the festival, the queen of these giants is chosen.