Bobbit worm. France is invaded by giant predatory worms. Thus, a predatory desert worm that spits poison and beats with current is no joke to you. But careful preparation will make the worm attack less dangerous.

And the friends became interested in what kind of maritime miracle it is and is it not dangerous to swim in the seas-okiyans today? Let's take a closer look at this outlandish inhabitant of the depths of the sea. And Andrey Ryansky will help us with this, we listen to his story:

With this legendary predator, the nightmare of the Indo-Pacific, I was familiar from books. Helmut Debelius so colorfully described his encounters with this sea worm in Secret Bay (Indonesia, Bali) that I included this place in my list of priorities for future trips. But our meeting took place earlier. Philippines - in this country you can find everything - and a little more. But first, a brief scientific background.

Eunice aphrodite (Eunice aphroditois) is a predatory marine polychaete worm that uses chitinous antennae (antennas) to find prey, and powerful chitinous jaws to capture and cut prey tissues. The worm was first described as Nereis aphroditois by the Russian scientist Pallas (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.

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

Our hero periodically becomes a headache for aquarists. While purchasing coral, algae and fish for their impressive marine aquariums, they often overlook a tiny worm that has uninvitedly settled in with 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 goes hunting only at night. But it grows very fast - and in two years reaches a length of 7 feet - more than two meters. And the traces of his night walks can no longer be invisible. Dead fish, damaged corals. And a mysterious killer who can hide in aquarium pipes during the day.

In English, our worm has been given the familiar name "Bobbit Worm - Bobbit Worm", this name reflects its reputation as a ruthless predator with sharply sharpened murder weapons. Here is the turn of historical reference.

FrankenPenis. On a stuffy night on June 23, 1993, John Wayne Bobbit was returning home from a friendly drinking bout. At home - in the city of Manasas (Virginia), he woke his sleeping wife and raped her, despite violent protests. This behavior was familiar to him, he calmly fell asleep after intercourse. And he did not suspect that he would soon become famous throughout the country, and this glory would be a terrible price.

Lorena Bobbitt walked into the kitchen, picking up a sharp 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 wherever her eyes looked. Stopping the car, threw a member in the field and drove on. But gradually realizing the seriousness of the act, she called the emergency service by phone 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 member took root. The subsequent trial ended for Lorena with a sentence of 45 days of community service.

John Bobbit subsequently unsuccessfully tried to capitalize on the sad and ambiguous fame that had fallen on him. He organized musical groups, played in porn films, one of which was symbolically called "FrankenPenis"

Jokes are jokes, but the appearance of the hero of our story really corresponds to the reputation. We dived in the famous Secret Cove in Anilao (Batangas Province) in the Philippines. At a depth of only 6 meters, the guide showed me with a sign to turn off my bright lantern. 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. Bobbit was completely calm about red light, and did not hide in a hole even after a flash. The mother-of-pearl sheen on the curves of his body, similar to a corrugated hose, attracts attention.

Having completed the photo session, I regretted that we didn’t have some tasty treats for Bobbit with us - fish or shrimp. He was so calmly photographed - and it would be interesting to try to capture the moment of throwing for prey. However, later I watched the videos, which filmed the moments of the attack of our terminator worm on a scorpionfish and an octopus. And I realized that I would have to make a lot of attempts to film the very moment of the attack - it is so lightning fast.

In conclusion, it remains to wish the readers - when meeting with our marine worm, you should not try to touch or stroke it. And for men - do not swim above it closer than a couple of meters above the ground. In order not to inadvertently evoke the rebellious and proud spirit of Lorena Bobbit in the night :)

Here is a story: The so-called Bobbit Worm, accidentally got into 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.

In the warm waters of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans, there is a predatory worm that can reach a length of up to three meters and more than ten centimeters in diameter.

In the English version, the name of the worm sounds like "Bobbit Warm" or "Bobbits Warm" - "Bobbit Worm" / "Bobbits Worm". It belongs to the class of polychaete annelids and looks more like an alien monster than one of earthly creatures. In Latin, the worm is called Eunice aphroditois.

The Bobbit worm lives on the seabed, at a depth of 10-40 meters. He buries his gigantic torso into the bottom, leaving only his head outside with five antennae and several grasping organs resembling giant jaws from a horror movie. Its body is painted in iridescent mirror colors, possibly to attract prey.

The worm feeds on large and small fish, octopuses and other marine life. It waits for prey, focusing on antenna signals. As soon as a fish swims past him, he grabs it with his jaws with incredible speed and strength - so fast that he often cuts the victim in two.

According to biologists Luis Carrera-Parra and Sergio Salazar-Vallejo, who study the life of annelids in one of the research centers in Mexico City, the Bobbit worm "injects some kind of narcotic or toxic poison into its prey, and then eats it."

There is very little information about the behavior and life of the Bobbit Worm. It is only known that it can grow up to three meters in length and usually does not exceed three centimeters in diameter.

There are several cases recorded in history when the Bobbit Worm accidentally fell into aquariums. So, in March 2009, employees of the large Blue Reef Aquarium (Blue Reef) in Portsmouth, England, noticed that several fish had wounds, and many simply disappeared. The corals in the aquarium were completely eaten. The culprit was the Bobbit Worm.

Aquarium manager Matt Slater recounted the story this way:

“Something ate our entire reef. Fish-surgeons swam with deep wounds on the body. We set up bait traps, but the next day they were torn apart. The bait was stuffed with hooks, but the worm must have just digested them ... ".

Later, the aquarium workers finally found the culprit of all the troubles and named the worm "Barry".

Video: Bobbit Worm has breakfast

Another Bobbit Worm, more than a meter long and about ten centimeters thick, was found on October 7, 2013 at the Maidenhead Aquatics Aquarium in the English city of Woking, Surrey.

In 2009, Japanese sailors on one of the fishing piers found a three-meter Bobbit Worm. Its weight was almost half a kilogram. He felt great eating fish caught by the Japanese.

Eunice aphrodite (Eunice aphroditois), also known by such names as the Purple Australian worm, or the Bobitta worm, does not cease to terrify marine life. This sea monster, belonging to polychaete worms, has chosen the warm tropical waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans. The found fossilized remains of these polychaetes speak of a more than venerable age of these polychaetes - about 485 - 443 million years. Let's get to know this legendary predator closer.

Bobbit Worm Appearance

This ringed worm, with a thickness of only 2.5 centimeters, can grow up to three meters. Coloration can vary from red-gold to dark brown or purple.

One of the three-meter specimens discovered by scientists from Japan was 299 centimeters long, weighed 433 grams and had six hundred and seventy-three segments.

Habitat

As mentioned above, the habitat of this polychaete is the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, it is especially widespread in the Philippines and Indonesia.

The purple Australian worm is a bottom-dwelling worm, preferring depths of six to forty meters, choosing coral slopes and shallow lagoons.

Lifestyle

The Bobitta worm is a merciless predator. Sitting in his “shelter” in the sea silt, just sticking his head with a powerful jaw above the surface, he watches for a calmly swimming and unsuspecting victim. Eunice aphrodite attacks with lightning speed the marine life passing by: fish, crustaceans, cephalopods. During the hunt, this tyrannosaurus of the underwater world protrudes from its mink by 20-30 centimeters.

To detect prey, nature provided this nocturnal predator with chitinous antennae (antennas), and for a strong grip and easy cutting of the prey, powerful chitinous jaws. Capturing a resisting prey, the Purple Australian Worm drags it into its lair, where it cuts the flesh into pieces and consumes it. Some scientists believe that the Bobitt worm can go without food for about a year.

Development and reproduction

Very little is known about the life cycle and reproduction of this polychaete worm. It is known that Eunice aphrodite grows quite quickly.

Some scientists involved in the study of the purple worm believe that large sexually mature individuals are capable of attacking a person, therefore, when meeting with such “instances”, you should not “flirt” with them.

They threaten agriculture

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

Bipalium predatory 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, mainly these predators threaten the well-being of people not directly, but indirectly. They significantly affect the composition of the fauna that inhabits the soil, thereby having a negative impact on agriculture - this has previously happened, including in Ireland and Scotland, where such worms came from New Zealand.

At the same time, it is still a mystery to specialists 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, which are responsible for monitoring the ecology of soils. The French scientist himself learned about the "invasion" of Bipalium after a picture of this worm was sent to him by an amateur naturalist who discovered the animal in his own garden. After that, 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 turned out, Bipalium began to spread throughout France back in the 90s of the last century, and they can most often be seen in the southern part of the country. To the question of whether this has significantly affected agriculture at this point, experts are not yet ready to answer.

This creature, which seems to be a simple marine worm, is actually a predator, from which you should stay away. You can easily write off the hero of some horror movie from him. Eunice aphrodite (Eunice aphroditois) is a predatory marine polychaete worm that uses chitinous antennae (antennas) to find prey, and powerful chitinous jaws to capture and cut prey tissues. The worm was first described as Nereis aphroditois by the Russian scientist Pallas (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.

In English, our worm has been given the familiar name "Bobbit Worm - Bobbit Worm", this name reflects its reputation as a ruthless predator with sharply sharpened murder weapons.

We dived in the famous Secret Cove in Anilao (Batangas Province) in the Philippines. At a depth of only 6 meters, the guide showed me with a sign to turn off my bright lantern. 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. Bobbit was completely calm about red light, and did not hide in a hole even after a flash. The mother-of-pearl sheen on the curves of his body, similar to a corrugated hose, attracts attention.