Remember the movie Dune? Me neither. However, I do remember the sandworm that traumatized me at childhood sleepovers on my friends’ older brothers movie posters or the occasional glimpse of the VHS sleeve that would stick out when we were looking for Ken Griffey Jr. Slugfest. The sandworm simply looked like the kind of creature that could be lurking anywhere, including the dark corners of my buddy’s basement. The Bobbitt Worm, or Eunice aphroditois, looks about the same — if not even more terrifying with its centipede-esque appearances. And it makes me really want to stop putting my feet down on the ocean floor whenever possible.
Haven’t heard of the Bobbitt Worm? No? Then, until now, consider yourself lucky. Aside from its terrifying appearances, it has one trait that really stands out, or in its case pokes out (and will haunt your nightmares): when hunting, it digs most of its body — a body that can grow up to 10 feet long — into the sand with only those five antennae and frightful fang-type pincers showing.
When an unsuspecting fish or something of that sort wanders too close, WHAM! Yep, WHAM! The lil’ bugger lashes out once it feels that its likely dinner is within range and clamps down with its mouth-like thing called a pharynx. This clamping down is occasionally so forceful that it snaps its prey in half. Otherwise, it’ll drag the poor marine animal down into the hole it dug and, well, the rest is unknown. It’s theorized that the Bobbitt worm injects it with toxins to kill it before digesting, but from the takeaway of the video below, that is like saying you 13-year-old dog went to the countryside to live out its days on a farm.
There are a couple things you should be yelling at the top of your lungs now: 10 feet long? Pincers? Lash out? Cut you in half? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And then it drags you into a hold where it devours you? Yep.
Another terrifying trait? They’re nearly anywhere with warm water, and three meter Bobbitt worms have been found Iberian Peninsula, Australia, and Japan.
While “Bobbitt” might bring to mind a rather unfortunate husband whose wife chopped off the dude’s, well, lil’ Bobbitt, no one is absolutely sure as to the name’s origin, though this story would be appropriate given the severity of the worms hunting actions. The Bobbitt worm might not be able to drag a human down into its hole, but it’ll unleash a nasty bite on you. And if it happens into your personal aquarium — which it has before, as younger ones are transported in dead coral mistaken for rocks as decoration — forget about finding Nemo… Nemo’s gone.
Well, so much for skinny dipping. For good measure, let’s have a look at our ol’ friend from that 1984 cult classic. I didn’t want to sleep anyway.
