'Mouth Fighting' Worms Causing a Ruckus (VIDEO)

Kyoto University

Caption

Researchers from Kyoto University's Field Science Education and Research Center report in Current Biology a worm who can make quite a 'pop'. Leocratides kimuraorum is a polychaete worm up to 29 mm long, that lives inside hexactinellid sponges at 85-169 m depths off the coast of Japan. When these worms 'mouth fight', a short proboscis extends followed by extremely rapid expansion of the posterior pharynx. This rapid strike produces a loud 'pop' comparable to those made by snapping shrimps, one of the most intense biological sounds measured at sea.

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Kyoto University/Ryutaro Goto

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