There’s an unthinkable number of weird and gross creatures slithering through the depths of the sea, including this Plumbus-looking floater, these creepy creatures hanging around the depths of the Mariana Trench, and of course, the Cthulhu (fictional, but still). The sea creature that takes the cake in terms of skin-crawl factor however, has to be the alien-looking worm in the above video. It’s slimy, it heaves, it wiggles, and most crucially — and disgustingly — it squirts out something that can aptly be described as a “fractal nose glove.”
The video of the worm was posted to YouTube by the CZT Channel, which makes diving videos when not recording one of the most hideously fastening living organisms on Earth. And although all of the commentary is apparently from Thai fishermen, it’s still obvious that this creature is something special.
The genus of this gross little sticky-noodle-spewing worm isn’t certain, but it likely belongs to Gorgonorhynchus. Gorgonorhynchus is one type of ribbon worm— or a worm with a proboscis, which is an appendage that, in the case of ribbon worms, shoots out of their heads to grab onto prey and pull it back toward their mouths.
The proboscises of the members of Gorgonorhynchus are unique however, as they branch consecutively as they spew outward, like a mess of neuronal connections made of wet angel hair pasta. This branching organ begins inside the worm’s body, and then is pushed out by muscle spasms that force liquid into it, turning it, and many consecutively smaller proboscises, inside out. (One Redditor likened the process to inflating a series of gloves that get turned inside out as they’re blown up.)
What do you think about this worm-shaped nightmare from the depths of the unknown? Describe your future night terrors in the comments below!
Images: CZT Channel
