This is Eunice aphroditois, also known as the bobbit worm, a mix between the Mongolian death worm, the Graboids from Tremors, the Bugs from Starship Troopers, and a rainbow — but it’s a really dangerous rainbow, like in Mario Kart.
If I could revisit my childhood, I’d avoid waiting for rainstorms to gather earthworms for my impromptu races down flooded gutters. It seemed amusing then, but hindsight reveals a darker twist. The Eunice aphroditois, or bobbit worm, resembling a lethal mix of the Mongolian death worm, Graboids from Tremors, Bugs from Starship Troopers, and a dangerous rainbow a la Mario Kart, lurks in tropical oceans. This nightmarish creature, capable of growing up to 10 feet long, buries itself in the sea floor, patiently awaiting prey in a truly horrifying manner.
With five antennae, the bobbit worm swiftly captures passing prey using its powerful mouth parts. Survivors face the unsettling fate of being dragged into the worm’s burrow for unknown horrors. Described as a mix of the Mongolian death worm, Tremors’ Graboids, Starship Troopers’ Bugs, and a nightmarish rainbow, the subsequent events remain mysterious. According to ecologists Luis F. Carrera-Parra and Sergio I. Salazar-Vallejo, the worm likely injects a narcotizing or lethal toxin into prey, ensuring safe ingestion and digestion through the gut, particularly if the prey is larger than the worm itself.
Before we proceed, addressing the rumored connection between the bobbit worm and John Bobbitt: the origin of the name remains unclear, and scientists struggle to classify this enigmatic creature. Marine biologist Anja Schulze notes variations in color patterns, and the preservation process muddles identification.
Encounters with bobbit worms in the wild are rare, but they can unexpectedly infiltrate aquariums, growing rapidly. Introduced through live rocks in saltwater tanks, these creatures become a challenge for aquarists.
Bobbit worms, adept at concealing themselves among coral, pose a threat to aquariums by systematically preying on fish. In a peculiar incident at an English public aquarium, mysterious injuries to fish and corals led to the discovery of a 4-foot bobbit worm named Barry. Reports suggesting the worm can permanently paralyze human appendages are questioned by experts Carrera-Parra and Salazar-Vallejo, who note that bobbit worms lack the harpoon-shaped chaetae responsible for such effects in fireworms.
The reproductive habits of bobbit worms remain a mystery, with Carrera-Parra and Salazar-Vallejo speculating on insights from the unsettling rituals of their relatives.
“Some eunicid polychaetes have an impressive transformation of their body for reproduction. The posterior part of their bodies are modified to contain sperm or oocytes and often have a large eyespot. During a very short period of time, depending on the season and under the influence of a certain phase of the moon, these posterior regions, or even the whole body, leave their shelter and swim en masse to the surface of the sea. This swarming behavior concludes with the massive release of sperm and eggs such that fecundation can be done.”
Hate to leave you with the image of a beautiful tropical ocean swarming with sex-crazed 10-foot-long worms with hair-trigger jaws, but that’s totally happening now.