Mar 19, 2009 07:00 AM
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Researchers at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Cornwall made a discovery worthy of a Frank Herbert novel: A massive, 4-foot-long reef worm that was chomping through their local corals.
According to This Is The West Country:
Staff eventually lured it out with fish scraps – but not before it bit through 20lb fishing line.Curator Matt Slater said: "As part of our tropical marine displays we have been painstakingly propagating a variety of corals. They are extremely slow-growing and every one we have lost to these attacks was a major blow.
"In the end it got so bad that I decided to literally take the display apart to find out who was responsible. I could hardly believe my eyes when I finally caught sight of the culprit.
"It really does look like something out of a horror movie! It's over four feet long with these bizarre-looking jaws. Having done some research we also discovered that it is covered with thousands of bristles which are capable of inflicting a sting resulting in permanent numbness'."
The worm has been taken into protective custody, placed in its own tank. No word yet on whether it is pooping out spice, or whether it's going to be used to create the water of life.
via This Is The West Country and Neatorama
Send an email to Annalee Newitz, the author of this post, at annalee@io9.com.
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