Sea worm is a predator. Bobbitt worm - a terrible killer from the ocean depths

Curious oceanographers are tirelessly trying to understand that huge mysterious world, which does not even penetrate sunlight, which, contrary to the previously held opinion about emptiness, never ceases to amaze with the diversity of living beings. One of these amazing creatures is a three-meter-long killer worm that lives at the bottom of the oceans.

IN warm waters Quiet and Indian Oceans at a depth of 10-40 m you can find the purple Australian worm; it is also known to science under the Latin name Eunice aphroditois. Another name comes from English verb to bobbit (“shred”, “cut”).

This predatory one polychaete worm reaches a length of 3 meters, while remaining quite thin, the thickness of the creature along its entire length does not exceed 2.5 centimeters.

The purple worm leads an exclusively predatory lifestyle. Its entire body is hidden in sea mud, only its head occasionally rises above the surface in search of prey. The worm searches for the victim with the help of chitinous antennae, and uses its powerful chitinous jaws to capture. The diet is based on fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and other marine life.

How a killer worm hunts (video):

Predator hunts at night. Rare cases have been described in which worms accidentally entered large aquariums and for a long time caused damage to the fauna without being noticed. One of the most famous is the case in 2009 at the British Blue Reef Aquarium. The uninvited guest was discovered only after a fairly long period of unexplained death of fish and corals.

How to catch a bobbit worm (video):

This is a creature that seems simple in appearance sea ​​worm, is actually a predator that you should stay away from. You can easily write off the hero of some horror movie from him. Eunice aphroditois is a predatory marine polychaete worm that uses chitinous antennae to find prey, and powerful chitinous jaws to capture and cut the tissues of the victim. The worm was first described as Nereis aphroditois by the Russian scientist Pallas (1788). It lives in many tropical seas of the Indo-Pacific, from East Africa to Indonesia and the Philippines. The length of the worm, according to confirmed reports, can reach 2-3 meters.

Eunice aphrodite spends most of her time beneath the surface of the sand on coral slopes and shallow lagoons. Hunts at night, rests during the day. During a hunt, the worm protrudes from the sand by 20-30 centimeters, and may completely leave the lair. At the same time, having captured the prey, he immediately drags it into his hole under the surface of the sand. Often the prey becomes objects of hunting that are more massive than the predator itself, but few manage to escape.

Our hero periodically becomes a headache for aquarists. Buying corals, algae and fish for their impressive marine aquariums, they often do not notice the tiny worm that has uninvitedly settled along with their new acquisitions. And for a long time they do not suspect what amazing creature they received it completely free of charge - after all, the worm only goes hunting at night. But it grows very quickly - and after two years it reaches a length of 7 feet - more than two meters. And the traces of his nightly walks can no longer be invisible. Dead fish, damaged coral. And a mysterious killer who can hide in the aquarium pipelines during the day.

IN English our worm received the popular name “Bobbit Worm”, this name reflects its reputation as a ruthless predator with sharply sharpened killing tools.

We dived at the famous Secret Cove in Anilao (Batangas province) in the Philippines. At a depth of only 6 meters, the guide signaled for me to turn off my bright flashlight. Switching to the red focusing light, I swam closer to our new friend, was able to get a good look at him and take a few photos. Bobbitt was completely calm about the red light and did not hide in a hole even after the flash. Noteworthy is the pearlescent sheen on the curves of his body, which looks like a corrugated hose.

Having completed the photo shoot, I regretted that we didn’t have some tasty food with us for Bobbit – fish or shrimp. He took photographs so calmly - and it would be interesting to try to film the moment of rushing for prey. However, later I watched videos that captured the moments of our terminator worm attacking a scorpion fish and an octopus. And I realized that I would have to make many attempts to film the very moment of the attack - it is so lightning fast.

They threaten agriculture

Worms of the genus Bipalium, which were previously almost never found in Europe, now live in France in large quantities. It is assumed that the “invasion” began quite a long time ago, but only now a group of scientists led by Jean-Loup Justin from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris paid attention to it.

Predatory Bipalium worms sometimes reach more than half a meter in length and are distinguished by an unusual “shovel-shaped” head. They feed on earthworms, as well as insects, snails and other small prey, paralyzing them with a toxin called tetrodotoxin. Although this poison is also dangerous for humans, these predators mainly threaten the well-being of people not directly, but indirectly. They significantly influence the composition of the fauna inhabiting the soil, thereby influencing negative impact on agriculture- a similar thing happened previously, including in Ireland and Scotland, where similar worms arrived from New Zealand.

At the same time, it still remains a mystery to experts how the worms got to France. At the same time, Jean-Loup Justine is especially surprised that for a long time this was not noticed by government departments whose responsibilities include monitoring soil ecology. The French scientist himself learned about the “invasion” of Bipalium after a photograph of this worm was sent to him by an amateur naturalist who discovered the animal in own garden. After this, Justine and his colleagues asked people from all over the country to tell him if they had seen similar worms. The scientist’s fellow citizens responded to his request and sent many photographs. As it turns out, Bipalium began to spread throughout France back in the 90s of the last century, and most often they can be seen in the southern part of the country. When asked whether this had a significant impact on agriculture by at this moment, experts are not yet ready to answer.

23/05/2018, 16:47 2.5k Views 297 Like

credit: Pierre Gros
New research shows that flat Hammerhead predatory worms V lately spread throughout France, previously remaining undetected for decades. These strange creatures look as if they are alien, not earthly, creatures. Their body can reach more than one meter in length and looks like a flat long ribbon with a bizarre “snake” head in the shape of a hammer. They are predators and feed on their soil invertebrate counterparts, such as slugs. The Hammerhead flatworm immobilizes its prey with a strong grip and injects it with paralytic venom. tetrodotoxin. After this, the predator secretes digestive enzymes and tears apart the liquefied external tissues of the prey, slowly sucking it into its digestive system.

credit: Pierre Gros

The two most common types were: Bipalium kewense And Diversibipalium multilineatum, which over the past 20 years have multiplied en masse throughout the country, while remaining unnoticed. And this is strange, because they are theoretically difficult to miss - they are brightly colored and capable of growing to enormous sizes (more than a meter). It is not known exactly how invasive carnivorous flatworms will impact local soil ecology, but their diet of beneficial earthworms makes the continued spread of Hammerhead dangerous and a concern. Jean-Loup Justine said about this:

“Earthworms are a major component of soil biomass and a very important element of soil ecology. Therefore, any predator that can reduce the earthworm population is a direct threat to soil ecology.”

credit: Laurent Charles

Eunice aphrodite(Eunice aphroditois) is a predatory marine polychaete worm that uses chitinous antennae to find prey, and powerful chitinous jaws to capture and cut the tissues of the victim. The worm was first described as Nereis aphroditois by the Russian scientist Pallas (1788). It lives in many tropical seas of the Indo-Pacific, from East Africa to Indonesia and the Philippines. The length of the worm, according to confirmed reports, can reach 2-3 meters.

Eunice aphrodite spends most of her time beneath the surface of the sand on coral slopes and shallow lagoons. Hunts at night, rests during the day. During a hunt, the worm protrudes from the sand by 20-30 centimeters, and may completely leave the lair. At the same time, having captured the prey, he immediately drags it into his hole under the surface of the sand. Often the prey becomes objects of hunting that are more massive than the predator itself, but few manage to escape.

Our hero periodically becomes a headache for aquarists. While purchasing corals, algae and fish for their impressive marine aquariums, they often fail to notice the tiny worm that has uninvitedly settled in with their new acquisitions. And for a long time they do not suspect what an amazing creature they received completely free of charge - after all, the worm comes out to hunt only at night. But it grows very quickly - and after two years it reaches a length of 7 feet - more than two meters. And the traces of his nightly walks can no longer be invisible. Dead fish, damaged coral. And a mysterious killer who can hide in the aquarium pipelines during the day.

In English, our worm received the popular name “Bobbit Worm”, this name reflects its reputation as a ruthless predator with sharply sharpened killing tools. Now it’s time for historical information.

Franken Penis. On the muggy night of June 23, 1993, John Wayne Bobbitt was returning home from a friendly drinking party. At home in the city of Manasas (Virginia), he woke up his sleeping wife and raped her, despite violent protests. This behavior was familiar to him; he calmly fell asleep after sexual intercourse. And he didn’t suspect that he would soon become famous throughout the country, and this fame would have a terrible price.

Lorena Bobbitt walked into the kitchen and picked up a sharpened knife. She returned to the bedroom to her sleeping husband and cut off about half of his penis. Running out of the house, she got into the car and drove away wherever she looked. Stopping the car, I threw my penis into the field and drove on. But gradually realizing the seriousness of the act, she called the rescue service by calling 911 and reported what had happened. After a long search, the long-suffering member was found, put on ice and taken to the hospital. The operation lasted nine and a half hours and ended in success - the penis took root. The subsequent trial resulted in Lorena being sentenced to 45 days of community service.

John Bobbitt subsequently tried unsuccessfully to capitalize on the sad and ambiguous fame that had befallen him. He organized musical groups, played in porn films, one of which was symbolically called “Franken Penis”.

Jokes aside, but the appearance of the hero of our story really matches his reputation. We dived at the famous Secret Cove in Anilao (Batangas province) in the Philippines. At a depth of only 6 meters, the guide signaled for me to turn off my bright flashlight. Switching to the red focusing light, I swam closer to our new friend, was able to get a good look at him and take a few photos. Bobbitt was completely calm about the red light and did not hide in a hole even after the flash. Noteworthy is the pearlescent sheen on the curves of his body, which looks like a corrugated hose.

In conclusion, it remains to wish the readers - when meeting our sea worm, you should not try to touch or stroke it. And men should not swim above it closer than a couple of meters above the ground. So as not to inadvertently evoke the rebellious and proud spirit of Lorena Bobbitt in the night.

Here's a story: The so-called Bobbit Worm accidentally ended up in the Newray Aquarium (England) and ate a bunch of fish there in one night; some sources claim that this worm ate all the inhabitants of the aquarium. The killer was named Barney and was about a meter (4 feet) long. Dangerous creature.