When most of us think of worms it is of a brown wiggly thing in the garden that weird little kids eat (and the birds). What makes a worm a worm? It is often an animal that has no eyes, no limbs and a long cylindrical tube-like body. But there are many types of worm that you won’t see in your garden and some of those said types of worms are petty interesting. This might sound like it will be a boring post, but it seems worms can be rather interesting…
The Spaghetti Worm
This is a marine relative of the traditional earthworm and those white things are its white tentacles with the rest of its body is hidden under the rock and is about 5 to 8 inches long. Each little tentacle has tiny bristles on it to catch food floating around.
The Flatworm
When most people think of a flatworm they will think of a parasite that can affect the bodies of both animals and us humans. But not all flatworms are parasitic, in fact, there are over 4,500 types of phylum Platyhelminthes (flatworms) some of which are rather beautiful sea creatures!
The African Giant Earthworm
While not very likely you would know if you had an African Giant Earthworm in your garden as it can grow as large as 22ft long with a body circumference of 1-2 inches! It’s not so much a worm, more a blind snake that could dig up your garden better than a JCB!
The Bootlace Worm
It might look as if someone has dropped their noodles on the floor, but this is Lineus longissimus, otherwise known as a bootlace worm. It might look ugly, but it is the worlds longest creature and can grow up to 55 m (180 ft) long! While its mucus is highly toxic it mostly lives under the ground in beaches all across the UK.
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The Roundworm
Also known as eelworm they are a parasitic worm that is found in the phylum of animals all over the world. Unlike flatworms, these worms have a tubular digestive system with openings at both ends which means they eat and poo from the same two holes!
The Marine Bristle Worm
Said to be one of the rarest worms on earth the marine bristle worm is also called the Smiling worm because of its smiling jaw like feature. It lives on the depths of the ocean, often under a rock meaning, it never sees daylight of any kind. But with most worms living underground, I suppose most of them don’t.
The Chernobyl Earthworms
While it is indeed true that these worms are between 10 and 23% larger than normal earthworms that is not the main reason they are interesting. You see, most earthworms will have sex with themselves, but these ones have turned amorous and have started to make love to neighbouring worms, even to the point of meeting in groups! Yeah…that means an earthworm orgy!
The Hammerhead Worm
You don’t need me to tell you why it got its name that is for sure. These amazing water-based worms are considered an invasive species in the US, but here in Europe, they are in there natural habitat.
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The Two-headed Space Worm
No, this is not a joke, nor is it a real type of worm as such. You see, this is a common flatworm that was amputated as part of a test onboard the ISS space station, but instead of growing a tail part like most flatworms do this one grew another head! This is believed to have happened because the worm didn’t know what way up it was (due to the lack of gravity).
The Velvet Worm
And we end this post with what I think is the best-looking worm you will ever see. They are often confused with a caterpillar or a slug, but they are 100% worm. You are probably wondering how they got their name! Well…their skin has a soft velvety texture making them one of the most interesting worms to hold.
