Giant penis-eating worm found in UK aquarium
Picture by Lorne Campbell, Guzelian.
A giant worm that eats penises and feeds them to its offspring has been found at a public aquarium in the UK.Staff at The Deep in Hull recently discovered a 1m/39" specimen while moving rocks in one of the aquarium's exhibits.
The species, Eunice aphroditois, is a large predatory polychaete worm that can reach up to 3m/10' in length, though most are around a meter long. It typically feeds on live fish.
Known as the Bobbit worm, after the infamous Lorena Bobbit who chopped off her husband's penis in a domestic dispute, females of the species bite off the penis of their male partner and feed it to their young.
YouTube video of divers feeding a Bobbit worm a live fish.
The species is found mainly in Indo Pacific waters and is nocturnal, being most often recorded by divers on night dives on the rubble zones surrounding coral reefs.During the night the Bobbit worm lies in wait with its powerful jaws open waiting for unsuspecting prey to swim or walk past.
It is equipped with special antennae that act as sensory organs to allow it to detect movement of ats nearby organisms in almost total darkness.
Once it has caught its prey, it retreats back into the substrate to consume the victim.
Bobbit worm
Aquarist Seb Prajsnar told Practical Fishkeeping: "I had just put my hands in one of our quarantine tanks and was just lifting a rock when out shot a massive worm which seemed to have appeared from nowhere!
"I’ve never seen anything like it - It looked like something straight out of a science fiction movie! I shouted out to my colleagues who came to see for themselves. We identified this alien-like creature as a Bobbit worm, famous for its incredible jaws, which are twice its body width."
The Bobbit worm is among the longest worms in the world and there are reports of them growing up to three metres in length. The Bobbit tends to be nocturnal, lying in ambush in sand and rocks, like a living bear trap. It then snaps shut its deadly jaws on its unsuspecting prey!”
The aquarium is now keeping the worm in its own aquarium.
Fact File
Common name: Bobbit wormScientific name: Eunice aphroditois (Pallas, 1788)
Origin: Indo Pacific and Western Central Atlantic.
Size: Around 100cm/39", but potentially as large as 3m/10'.
Diet: Lives in soft substrates with its head protruding and feeds on live fish which it detects using a number of sensory antennae on its head. Prey and grabbed in its powerful jaws and then the worm rapidly retreats into its burrow to consume the prey.
Notes: Said to breed at a size of just 10cm/4", which is very early given the size and age of larger specimens. It has an protrusible proboscis, rather like that of the native British ragworm.
Some claim that there may be several related species masquerading under the scientific name Eunice aphroditois, including E. tentaculata.
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Matt Clarke: 22.10.2009Views: Read 54,436 times
Comments feed
"All I can say is WOW"
Posted by: Keefe Mcintosh - 4 weeks, 1 day agoDate: Thursday October 22nd, 2009, 11:36 am
"OMG i got one in my tank but its not that big. I never new what it was till i just read this"
Posted by: Matthew Butler - 4 weeks, 1 day agoDate: Thursday October 22nd, 2009, 7:29 pm
"I might get one of those for my Mrs. "
Posted by: Gavy Gavygavy - 4 weeks agoDate: Friday October 23rd, 2009, 11:43 am
"Most have been a fun day trying to catch that slippery monster! :-)
"
Date: Friday October 23rd, 2009, 11:51 am
"First I got an email from PFK titled, "Tongue eating", then I got "Penis Eating". So I'm thinking what are they joking? No clearly not, what body part is next to be consumed?"
Posted by: Martin Holmes - 4 weeks agoDate: Friday October 23rd, 2009, 4:01 pm
"Ok I did a double take on reading the title , I certainly wouldnt want to meet one suddenly lol ,
I wonder what else will be discoverd with a penchant for nether regions, we already have the small South American Catfish now a Worm .
Mind Boggles"
Date: Friday October 23rd, 2009, 10:20 pm
"I was wondering if that headline made anyone else squirm a little in their seat?!"
Posted by: Matt Gray - 3 weeks, 3 days agoDate: Tuesday October 27th, 2009, 1:35 pm
"I saw one of those when i went to malta i think it was dead though because it was at the surface and i saw it in the afternoon!!! it looked like leather of some sort! To me."
Posted by: Michael Duke - 2 weeks, 5 days agoDate: Sunday November 1st, 2009, 6:57 pm
"I have just found 3 in my tank and they were ranging from 8 inch long to 23 inch long. I broke up 2 rocks getting them out. The weird thing is, when you drop them into fresh water (normal cold tap water) to kill them, they glow bright blue as if they are electric. One of them I caught was in 2 pieces and I placed its top half in water first and couldnt believe it so I went into a large cupboard that is pitch black and tipped the bottom part in water and it lit up both sides where the spines are and was a bright neon blue. I wish I had a camcorder to film it. "
Posted by: Ian Allen - 2 weeks, 5 days agoDate: Sunday November 1st, 2009, 8:45 pm
"This totally reminds me of that thing from the Starwars movie, Return of the Jedi, that Luke and them almost have to jump into out in the desert. Does anyone else see this???"
Posted by: Jordan Simpson - 2 weeks, 4 days agoDate: Monday November 2nd, 2009, 1:08 am
"Just read the last comment, i do wonder if thats where they got the idea from for the star wars worm things..."
Posted by: Andrew Brett - 5 days, 3 hours agoDate: Sunday November 15th, 2009, 6:39 pm
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 | Editor-in-Chief, Matt Clarke, writes the regular Interesting Imports column on rare and unusual fish in the UK aquarium trade. He's kept fish for 30 years and holds a degree, two higher degrees and two diplomas in fish biology, taxonomy and computational biology. |
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"Nice!! I think I would have had a panic attack if something that size suddenly appeared anywhere near me!
Posted by: Gemma Pickering - 4 weeks, 1 day agolad they kep it in its own aquarium though!! Thats much more interesting!"
Date: Thursday October 22nd, 2009, 10:28 am