What are the rain and purple Australian worm?
The ocean bottom hides many mysteries. Here, for example, there is a terrible killer, able to cope with the inhabitants of medium 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 multiworm worms from the class of annelids. The class includes over 10 thousand different species. They are all studied in different degrees, but the Australian worm is rare, so it's poorly studied. It is precisely known that this is one of the largest representatives of the class. The length of the specimens studied was from 2 to 3 m. However, in the natural environment it is impossible to see the whole animal.
The monster is buried in the ground, leavingon the top only. Here are the jaws with huge tenacious hooks. The Australian worm does not have a brain and eyes, so the body section does not rotate when it comes to calling the trunk section equipped with jaws. The role of the brain in this representative of annelid worms is played by the ganglion, that is, the accumulation of nerve cells, from which the abdominal neural chain begins. The body of the worm consists of numerous segments, in each ring the complex of internal worm organs is repeated. Most likely, the Australian worm has no gills. Their function is given to the tip of the tentacles of the head part of the body. The diameter of the articulate body of the worm is about 5 cm.
Unexpected meeting
It is believed that in nature a ringed monsterthere is a very long time. Confirmation of their existence found in ancient deposits, whose age is not less than 485 million years. But the first individual fell into the hands of a man in one of the offices of the national network of British public aquariums "Blue Reef". It happened in 2009.
The Australian worm got into one of the aquariumsa small larva, for a few years a specimen of growth and began to actively hunt local fish. Reducing the number of fish in the aquarium was noticed by the servants of the network 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 jaws of which inspired the animals with horror. Scientists described the new-born monster and called it the Australian purple worm.
But much earlier the Australian worm was describedas Nereis aphroditois. It happened in the 18th century. Then PS. Pallas presented the work that corrected the Linnaean classification of worms. Today this species is called Eunice aphrodite (Eunice aphroditois).
Australian worm, whose photo is simplefrightens, has one more name - Bobbit Worm. The name is derived from the name of Lorena Bobbit, who, defending herself from violence, cut off a part of her penis to a drunken husband. In English there is a verb to bobbit, it is translated as to cut or shred.
Some saw a funny similarity between the imagethe life of a predatory worm and a lawsuit against the unhappy Lorena. But there is no exact confirmation of the connection between the title and this story. Maybe it's just a "city legend". The question of the title is often raised in the scientific community, but still remains open.
A little bit about the way of life
Purple Australian worm lives at a depth of10 to 45 m. He prefers warm water and meets in the Pacific and Indian Ocean. The estimated time of hunting is night. The predator catches the movement of the prey by the antennas at the head. The capture of her is a lightning throw. The worm drags the defeated enemy into a hole under the sand. In the diet of the Australian worm there are crustaceans, mollusks and fish of different sizes.
Another "Australian"
There is one more giant ringworm, inthe name of which is the word "Australian". The name of the giant is an Australian earthworm. He lives in a rural area of Australia. But even here it is quite rare. Long these "worms" can be up to 3 m. The thickness of the body is small, about 3 cm. When encountered, this invertebrate is often confused with a thin snake. However, there is nothing in common between these representatives of the animal world.
There is an Australian earthworm onlyon sites with wet clay soil. The habitat is limited, it is approximately 1000 km ². A small population is associated with the destruction of eucalyptus forests. Earthworms-giants simply do not fit dry soil after cutting down. In addition, the agricultural population made adjustments to the population.
