The ocean floor hides many mysteries.Here, for example, lurked a terrible killer, able to cope with the inhabitants of the average size. This is a purple Australian worm, which became the prototype of the monsters of many fantastic "horror films."
Description
This unique representative of the ocean floorfauna, one of the multi-shell worms from the class of ringed worms Over 10 thousand different types belong to the class. All of them have been studied to varying degrees, but the Australian worm rarely comes across, so it is poorly understood. It is known that this is one of the largest representatives of the class. The length of the studied individuals was from 2 to 3 m. However, it is impossible to see the animal in its natural environment.
The monster is buried in the bottom ground, leavingtop only the top. There are jaws with huge tenacious hooks. The Australian worm does not have a brain and eyes, so to call the division of the trunk, equipped with jaws of the head, somehow the tongue does not turn. The role of the brain in this representative of annelids is played by the ganglion, that is, the accumulation of nerve cells, from which the abdominal nerve circuit begins. The body of the worm consists of numerous segments, in each ring a complex of internal organs of the worm is repeated. Most likely, the Australian worm does not have a separate gill. Their function is given to the corolla of the tentacles of the head part of the body. The diameter of the worm's segmented body is about 5 cm.
Unexpected meeting
It is believed that in nature ringed monsterthere is a very long time. Confirmation of their existence was found in ancient sediments, which are at least 485 Ma. But the first individual fell into the hands of a person in one of the offices of the national network of British public aquariums "Blue Reef". It happened in 2009.
Australian worm hit one of the aquariumsin a few larvae, in a few years, the individual was outgrowth and began to actively hunt local fish. Reducing the number of fish in the aquarium was noticed by the servants of the net and sounded the alarm. A complete cleaning of the aquarium tank was carried out, and a huge animal was found in the bottom sediments, the size and jaw of which inspired animal horror to the workers. Scientists have described the new monster and called it the Australian purple worm.
But much earlier the Australian worm was describedlike Nereis aphroditois. It happened in the 18th century. Then PS Pallas presented a paper that amended the Linnaean classification of worms. Today this species is called Eunice aphrodite (Eunice aphroditois).
Australian worm, whose photo is justfrightens, has another name - Bobbit Worm. The name is derived from the name of Lorena Bobbit, who, defending herself from violence, cut off a part of the penis for a drunken husband. In English, there is a verb to bobbit, it translates as cut or shred.
Some saw a funny similarity between the image.life of a predatory worm and a lawsuit against poor Lorena. But there is no exact confirmation of the connection between the name and this story. Maybe it's just a “urban legend.” The name issue is often raised in academic circles, but still remains open.
A little bit about lifestyle
Purple Australian worm lives at a depth of10 to 45 m. It prefers warm water and is found in the Pacific and Indian Ocean. The estimated hunting time is night. The predator catches the prey movement by antennae in the head section. Capture it with lightning fast throw. The worm drags the defeated enemy into the hole under the sand. Crustaceans, mollusks and fish of various sizes are present in the diet of the Australian worm.
Another Australian
Есть еще один гигантский кольчатый червь, в whose name is present the word "Australian". The giant's name is the Australian earthworm. It lives in one of the rural areas of Australia. But here it is quite rare. These “worms” can be up to 3 m long. The thickness of the body is small, about 3 cm. When meeting, this invertebrate is often confused with a thin snake. However, there is nothing in common between these representatives of the animal world.
Australian earthworm found onlyin areas with moist clay soil. Habitat area is limited, it is about 1000 km². A small population associated with the destruction of eucalyptus forests. Giant earthworms simply do not like dry soil after cutting. In addition, adjustments to the population have made agricultural work.
