#worm

#worm

Vinegar Eels Can Synchronize Their Wiggling as They Move Together in SwarmsThe Turbatrix aceti is a species of nematode commonly found wiggling inside jars of raw vinegar or in fish tanks. Better known as vinegar eels, these harmless and non-parasitic worms are one of many intriguing creatures in the microscopic world.Scientists have recently discovered that vinegar eels can "wiggle in synch as they move together in swarms" — an ability rarely found in nature. There are animals such as birds and fish that can move collectively. This nematode species, however, according to University of Rochester physicist Anton Peshkov, has "a combination of two different kinds of synchronization," namely motion and oscillation.Their ability to synchronize their movements and oscillation can be seen in this short clip. More details about them can be read over at ScienceNews.Scientists are still wondering why these tiny worms exhibit such behavior. Is it a ritual? Is it a dance? Only they know.Image Credit: Anton Peshkov via ScienceNews#worm #Weird #InterestingScience #Wiggle #Nematodes #VinegarEels #synchornization

New Species of Tarantula-Killing Parasite Worm is Named after Actor Jeff DanielsYou haven’t really made it in Hollywood until a tarantula-killing worm is named after you. That’s a distinction that The Newsroom actor Jeff Daniels can now brag about.UC Riverside parasitologists named a newly-found parasite Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi. The worms, known to infect tarantulas, are named so because Jeff Daniels played a guy who fought a deadly infestation of spiders in the 1990 film Arachnophobia. The parasitologists discovered the lethal worm through a report filed by a wholesale tarantula breeder. After analyzing the odd white mass found around the specimen’s mouth area, they quickly realized they were dealing with nematodes, more commonly known as worms. Once the eight-legged creatures get infected by this worm, they begin developing strange behaviors like walking on tiptoe and not eating. Over time, inability to eat would kill the arachnid. It literally is the spider killer, just like Daniels’ character.Image: Adler Dillman/UCR#parasite #worm #nematode #tarantula #JeffDaniels #Archnophobia

The Worm With A Thousand ButtsThe story of Ramisyllis multicaudata begins in a simple manner. It lives inside the water passages of a sponge called Petrosia, with its head buried deep inside it. From there, the story starts to take a weird turn.The Ramisyllis starts to branch repeatedly inside the sponge, with no pattern whatsoever, and the bristle worm begins to reveal its rather grotesque nature. Scientists remark that, despite being an animal, Ramisyllis lives as though it were a fungus, noting the similar appearance of the worm’s branching tubes to that of a fungus under a microscope.To describe the worm as bizarre is an understatement.(Image Credit: Sarah Faulwetter/ Wikimedia Commons)#Worm #Fungi #Weird #sponge