my favorite worm is the humble velvet worm, albeit not a true worm since they belong to the phylum Onychophora
my favorite true worm is Giant Gippsland, Megascolides australis, which makes a gurgling noise as it travels underground that you can hear if they’re close to the surface!
Thank you, pill bugs, for being more important to the planet than AI.
Thank you, spiders, for being more important to the planet than billionaires.
Thank you, worms, for being more important to the planet than corporations.
Thank you, snails & slugs, for being more important to the planet than fascists.
Thank you to all insects.
European medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis) taking a blood sample. Don’t worry, all individuals of this species are licensed doctors :)
fireworm skin perfec t texture for put hand in to r\ub! surface very Soft and Comfort hand rub smoothly put hand on Fireworm Skin. Put Hand On Fireworm Skin. no itching burns ever on firewom skin because good texture and fuzzy for hand arm shoulder weak of yuor big hand big. Afireworm skin yes a surgace for a hand put hand on fireworm surface can trust Fireworm for giveing good rubs to hand. friend fireworm
jollyness rating: 76% good
photographed by Ana Santos (cyberoceans) (CC BY-NC 4.0)
me at the club, one Yorkshire Tea in: “do you want to know about leech sex??”
Today is a sand fan worm appreciation post! Look at those pretty colours! (Myxicola infundibulum)
Photos from iNaturalist: Nicolas Lagière, tamsynmann, Tony Gilbert and Jeroen Cool
The Sea Mouse: this marine worm’s body is fringed by photonic crystals that emit colorful displays of light
The scientific name of this species is Aphrodita aculeata, which is a reference to the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite. It’s also known as a sea mouse, thanks to its fluffy, almost mammalian appearance, but it’s actually a type of marine worm.
Above: the photonic crystals have a color-shifting effect that makes them look almost like fiber-optic threads
The sea mouse is equipped with tufts of hollow, glassy bristles that produce a vibrant iridescence; these structures are known as photonic crystals, and Aphrodita aculeata is one of the few living organisms that is known to produce them.
Above: Aphrodita aculeata
This article explains how the colorful effect is produced:
Each sea mouse is covered in a dense felt of bristles that keep silty sediments away from the gills. But these “hairs” aren’t hairs at all. The structures, known as chaetae, are actually modified scales, made largely of chitin, the same material that gives insects like jewel beetles their iridescence.
Each spine is essentially a hollow tube, and the wall of that tube contains 88 perfectly hexagonal chitin cylinders. Acting together, these cylinders form what is known as a “complete spectrum photonic crystal”, the first-ever documented in a living organism. Photonic crystals are nanostructures that affect the motion of light travelling through them, and the sea mouse’s crystalline spines are the most efficient in nature.
Above: close-ups of the iridescent bristles
According to the same article:
As light hits the system of chitin tubes at different angles, it is spilt, scrambled and bounced back, producing the ever-changing rainbow you see. Light that comes in perpendicular to the spine reflects a deep red. Light coming in from off-axis angles, however, results in brilliant blues and greens.
Amazingly, the spines’ ability to bend light surpasses even the most brilliant non-living photonic crystal we know of, the fire opal.
Above: the underbelly of a sea mouse, with a close-up of the “feet” (parapodia) along the sides of each body segment
The purpose of this colorful display is still unclear. Many researchers believe that it is used to deter predators, while others argue that it might help to obscure the sea mouse’s silhouette as it moves along the bottom of the sea, making it harder for predators to pinpoint the exact location of its body.
Above: the photonic crystals shimmering as the sea mouse moves around
The genus Aphrodita contains several other species that are commonly known as sea mice, but Aphrodita aculeata is the only one that can produce this iridescence.
Above: the colorful effect is more vibrant when viewed underwater, but it’s still visible even on land
Aphrodita aculeata has an average length of about 7-15cm, and it can be found in certain parts of the North Atlantic, the North Sea, the Baltic, the Arctic, and the Mediterranean.
Sources & More Info:
Today’s worm is an (unidentified) phyllodocid who just seems like a cute little friend!
Photo by Luca Davenport-Thomas
Polychaete of today is the draconic Hermodice carunculata, or bearded fireworm.
Photos by Dennis Rabeling
he’s quite the deranged guy. he lives in a shelter made from an unknown material which has some strange properties and he rarely interacts with the outside world
in the rare moments where he comes out he usually talks about the strange conspiracy theories he believes in. they’re mostly about things like brain melting waves, other worlds and aliens
he’s completely unaware of the fact that all of these things are very real and no longer seen as outlandish theories or ‘forbidden knowledge’
glorpiness rating: comparison is the thief of joy
first photograph by Mayve (strongm) (CC BY-NC 4.0)
second photograph by HeatherTurek2018? (hflint78) (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Some friends i found out on my walk after the rain: several western dusky slugs, a couple of brown-lipped snails, a huge honkin woirm, and i think some kind of wireworm that looks like slimey the worm
Common Earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris)
• Humble • Down-to-earth • Quirky •
Animal Personality Moodboard 5/?
Your art inspires this Worm 2 further research worms…despite my name, my knowledge of worms is limited. The name “Wormchamp” is derived from my beloved Slither.io, after all.
Thank you, dear @spidrbite, for such lovely art.
