A worm is a term properly used for various elongated limbless creatures. Zoologically worms include the flat worms such as flukes and tapeworms; the roundworms or nematodes such as the potato eelworm and the bookworm, an animal parasite; the marine ribbon worms or nemerteans; and the segmented worms or annelids. The earthworm is an annelid.
Worms are little more than intestines surrounded by muscles. Plant material goes in the mouth and waste emerges from the tail. They breathe through their skin.
Halicephalobus mephisto is a species of nematode, among a number of other roundworms, discovered by Gaetan Borgonie and Tullis Onstott in 2011. It was detected in ore recovered from deep rock fracture water in several gold mines in South Africa 0.9 km (0.56 mi), 1.3 km (0.81 mi), and 3.6 km (2.2 mi) under the surface of the Earth. It is the "deepest-living animal" ever found, able to withstand heat and crushing pressure, and the first multicellular organism found at deep subsurface levels.
Christmas tree worms are tube-building polychaete worms belonging to the family Serpulidae. They have eyes on their gills, and are probably the only animals on the planet that possess gill eyes.
In 1979 giant sea worms about 3 metes / 10 feet long, living within tubes created by their own excretions were discovered 2450 metres/ 8000 feet beneath the Pacific, north east of the Galapagos Islands.
The world's largest worm is the 5ft-long giant gippsland worm, known as 'nature's plough'. It lives in Australia.
When most worms are cut in two, only the half with the head survives. The tail half continues to wriggle for a few minutes to distract predators, allowing the head to escape.
A square yard of organic soil just six inches deep can hold up to 500 worms.
The silkworm is not a worm – it is a caterpillar.
All areas of North America that were covered in ice in the last Ice Age were devoid of worms before European colonization. If you've even encountered an earth worm north of the 45th parallel, it's almost guaranteed to be an Asian or European species.
In July 2018, Russian scientists collected and analysed 300 prehistoric worms from the permafrost and thawed them. Two of the ancient worms revived and began to move and eat. One is dated at 32,000 years old, the other 41,700 years old.
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| Slow worm |
Worms are little more than intestines surrounded by muscles. Plant material goes in the mouth and waste emerges from the tail. They breathe through their skin.
Halicephalobus mephisto is a species of nematode, among a number of other roundworms, discovered by Gaetan Borgonie and Tullis Onstott in 2011. It was detected in ore recovered from deep rock fracture water in several gold mines in South Africa 0.9 km (0.56 mi), 1.3 km (0.81 mi), and 3.6 km (2.2 mi) under the surface of the Earth. It is the "deepest-living animal" ever found, able to withstand heat and crushing pressure, and the first multicellular organism found at deep subsurface levels.
Christmas tree worms are tube-building polychaete worms belonging to the family Serpulidae. They have eyes on their gills, and are probably the only animals on the planet that possess gill eyes.
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| Red and white Christmas tree worm By Nhobgood Nick Hobgood |
In 1979 giant sea worms about 3 metes / 10 feet long, living within tubes created by their own excretions were discovered 2450 metres/ 8000 feet beneath the Pacific, north east of the Galapagos Islands.
The world's largest worm is the 5ft-long giant gippsland worm, known as 'nature's plough'. It lives in Australia.
When most worms are cut in two, only the half with the head survives. The tail half continues to wriggle for a few minutes to distract predators, allowing the head to escape.
A square yard of organic soil just six inches deep can hold up to 500 worms.
The silkworm is not a worm – it is a caterpillar.
All areas of North America that were covered in ice in the last Ice Age were devoid of worms before European colonization. If you've even encountered an earth worm north of the 45th parallel, it's almost guaranteed to be an Asian or European species.
In July 2018, Russian scientists collected and analysed 300 prehistoric worms from the permafrost and thawed them. Two of the ancient worms revived and began to move and eat. One is dated at 32,000 years old, the other 41,700 years old.
The WG6-S and WG8-L "Worm Getter" worm probes were manufactured by Handy Marketing Company in the 80's and 90's. They were sold to fishermen for the collection of earthworms for bait. The product sent an electric shock through the top layer of soil forcing the worms to surface, but had to be recalled in 1993 after over 30 people died using it.
A 10-year-old broke the worm charming world record in 2009, raising 567 worms during Britain's World Worm Charming Championship.
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