Wow its Issue #9 of Impurest Cheese’s Guide to Animals back to showcase more unusual and in some instances disturbing creatures on a weekly basis. Last week the majestic Northern Hawk Owl was in the spotlight. This week’s animal is a predator of a different kind. Hope you guys enjoy.

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Issue #9 – Bobbit Worm

Kingdom – Animalia

Phylum – Annelidia

Class – Polychatea

Order – Eunicida

Family – Eunicidae

Genus – Eunice

Species – aphroditois

Related Species - The Bobbit Worm is one of 25 worms in the genus Eunice.

Range - Bobbit Worms are found in the tropical water of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans

Deadliest Catch - Worm Edition

The Bobbit Worm is a shallow water dwelling polychete worm that grows on average to a length of four foot although specimens reaching ten foot have been recorded in the wild. The Bobbit is mostly nocturnal and is rarely seen above ground usually only revealing one tenth of its body topped with a mouth surrounded by five sensory tentacles and a pair of jaw like structures known as a pharynx (2)

While omnivorous the Bobbit Worm proves its deadly credentials when hunting live prey. As an ambush predator it waits until a fish gets close enough to the head using its tentacles to detect the vibrations caused when the prey item moves. When within range the Bobbit strikes and grabs the fish with the pharynx sometimes hitting so hard and so fast it eviscerates its prey killing them outright with the initial impact. The prey items that survive the first strike are then injected with an aesthetic toxin and are then dragged down into the Bobbit Worm’s burrow to be consumed (3).

Unlike most worm species the Bobbit Worm has clearly defined sexual genders and reproduce by releasing eggs and sperm into the water. Breeding is synchronised and is determined by a certain phase of the moon and water temperature which trigger a mass exodus of Bobbit Worms from the seabed to rise to the surface in a mass breeding frenzy. It’s unknown if the worms have a larval stage although animals as small as ten centimetres have been discovered with working sex organs in the wild.

Five Fun Bobbit Worm Facts

The Bobbit Worm got its common name in the wake of the John Bobbit trial. It was long since thought that the female worm used her pharynx to bite off the male’s genitalia. Modern studies have shown that male Bobbit Worms have no external sexual organs proving this theory false.

Another Bobbit Worm related theory was spread by the British Paper about the bristles running down the worm’s flanks. The Daily Mail stated that the bristles (used for traction while burrowing) contained a deadly sting. Such information was incorrect and is attributed to another Polychete group the Fireworms (Amphinomidae)

Bobbit Worms have been appearing more frequently in aquariums, usually stowing away in product labelled as Live Rock. Once inside an aquarium the Bobbit will systematically destroy all other species inside until it’s the sole inhabitant.

One such stowaway Bobbit Worm found in Woking, Surrey was accidentally cut into three pieces by an overzealous fish keeper. The rear end died shortly after separation but both the middle and head sections remained alive for years after seperation

Another captive worm, this one named Barry by its keepers, ate and digested a set of metal hooks baited in an attempt to remove it from the aquarium it was decimating

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Bibliography

(1) – www.arkive.org

(2) - http://www.wired.com/2013/09/absurd-creature-of-the-week-bobbit-worm/

(3) - http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-09/09/bobbit-worm

(4) - Bannister, JV; Bannister, WH; Anastasi, A (1976). "Isolation, characterization and oxygen equilibrium of an extracellular haemoglobin from Eunice aphroditois (Passas)". The Biochemical journal 159 (1): 35–42.PMC 1164035. PMID 11776.

Picture References

[1] - http://bogleech.com/nature/worm-bobbit.jpg

[2] - http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn277/tatt_04/bobbit1_lg.jpg

[3] - http://incrediblebeings.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/il3-13620bobbit20worm20eunice20aphroditois.jpg

Hope you guys enjoyed the insight into this nightmarish predator. Drop me a comment with an animal you want explored in the next issue