What’s slimy, revolting and eats foul gas?
An aphrodisiac, of course. Meet the 1.5-metre shipworm
MANILA // A huge black worm that lives in the mud of the sea floor and survives on the remnants of noxious gases digested by bacteria has been unveiled by scientists for the first time.
The slimy, giant shipworm can grow up to 1.5 metres in length despite a sedentary life in ocean sediment eating only the waste products of the microorganisms that live in its gills.
“Usually, shipworms are only as short as a matchstick and are white,” said Filipino marine biologist Julie Albano.
The shipworm is actually a mollusc with its own brittle shell.
Also known as Kuphus polythalamia, the mollusc is radically different from its smaller shipworm cousins. Researchers who examined the creature found that although it had a digestive system, it was shrunken and seemed to be largely redundant.
It relies on the bacteria that live in its gills, which digest hydrogen sulphide – a gas that smells of rotten eggs – from the mud and emit traces of carbon.
The discovery of a species never before studied marked the first time scientists had live specimens in hand, an article in this week’s American journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says.
Ms Albano said the giant shipworm was found in the southern province of Sultan Kudarat.
Local people have known about them for years. “The shipworm tastes like octopus,” she said. “It serves as an aphrodisiac.”