An enormous bright green worm with a long pink 'tongue', which was discovered by fishermen in Taiwan recently, has been identified.
Footage of the creature (scroll down for video) went viral after it was posted on YouTube.
It has been identified by experts at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. as a species of ribbon worm, called Lineus fuscoviridis.
Jon Norenburg says the species is harmless and is actually quite common in tropical coastal waters in its range from Japan to the Philippines.
The pink 'tongue' is a proboscis, which the worm uses to obtain food.
Species of the Lineus genus have the capability of reaching great lengths — and in fact Guinness World Records states that a Bootlace worm, Lineus longissimus was discovered in Fife, measuring over 55m/180ft in length, making it the longest ever recorded worm. This specimen looks to be rather smaller...
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