Hammerhead Worm - Animal of the Week
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
- This week we've got more wacky invertebrates, as we look at a predatory flatworm genus with some strangely shaped heads.
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"But they are still not edible and could make you ill if you eat one."
Damn there goes my plans for this weekend.
-said no one ever
Were your plans to be *not* ill this weekend?
The Chinese: I’m sorry were you saying something?
*Big things have small beginnings.*
@@laddttt6808 so anyways I started eating...
Saw one of these when I was five years old. It was in South Carolina. For years I thought I dreamed this thing up because no one could tell me what it was.
I saw a bunch of these when I was a kid in 1982 in Georgia. My mom and grandma called them snake worms. We killed them by pouring on the salt. I’ve never seen them before or since. I’m glad we killed them, as they are an invasive species.
John Paul Keller I think I saw these too when I was growing up in California. I had no idea what they were, but it’s been so long since I had seen them that I had completely forgotten about them. If I recall, the worms were either matte black-brown or black and brown striped like the worm at 0:58
One got in my house before and I had no clue what it was. I'm used to or despise many of the various invertebrates crawling around northwest Florida but I'd never seen one before.
I saw one in NC about 5 years ago under a rock and figured it was some kind of leech. It was a light tan color, pretty skinny, and there was a lot of rain at the time. I have never seen it, or anything like, it again.
Alabama 2001
Observing their coloration I'm thinking "there's no way nature gives you those colors without you being toxic."
*Ding ding ding ding!*
... there are non-toxic Animals also - they just look toxic, to get not consumed. Mimicry!
Facts 💯
"Animal of the week. If you see one, kill it."
Alex Ignobilis just use coffee--don't ask how I know...
Hope Rules Ground coffee, cold, or burning hot?
*kill it on sight IF you live in the northern hemisphere
@@unstoppableExodia I'm just joking. It's pretty obvious they should be killed to preserve other species.
@plaguelock Coffee grounds hold moisture well, the worms can eat the organic matter, and the caffiene makes them wiggly.
What an alien and odd creature. It is strange these exist and are carnivorous.
Its outside the recycle cycle... it... must... D i e
Get the flamethrower
Oh yeah yeah
@@NameName2.0 i thought he was describing the elite
worms are sooo weird :/
Wow, I've never seen something so pretty and disgusting at the same time, lol. Another great video!
That's exactly what I was thinking. "My gosh its colors...its still a worm...its still a worm...so sleek and shiny...flipping worm...disgusting worm...where is it's face?...it has no face...what?"
Thanks, i was feeling the same why while finding pictures for the video
@@olimthomas6515 Thank you for that! We appreciate you going the extra mile, even if it's nasty lol
It is quite common for reptiles, amphibians, insects, sea creatures that are toxic to eat to be colorful as a warning to other predators. "Do Not Eat'.
@@MrBonners True! It's funny that humans can see those colors and think, "Ooo, that's so cool!" when they're supposed to be off putting. But I think the message is still clear when you see shocking yellows, reds, etc.
3:50 any worm that sports that kind of colour pattern is probably trouble.
Imagine eating it in small bites starting from the head and all the way down 🤢
Ben G Thomas with every other animal: Amazing creatures, let's do our best to protect them
Ben G Thomas with this worm: DESTROY
Note that this is mainly true if you are in the Northern Hemisphere away from the tropics. If you live in the tropics or southern hemisphere they are (probably) native. Interestingly New Zealand actually has one of the highest diversity of native predatory planarian flatworms in the world, which also means it is one of the major hot spot sources of invasive predatory flatworms though Australia Africa South America and New Guinea are also significant sources of various invasive predatory planarian flatworms....
unstoppableExodia
Humans are invasive and overpopulated l.
Yes, destroy it where it is NOT native... They have no Predators to fear - nobody eat them...
Worm week?
Worm week!
WORM WEEK!
Worm week!
Worm week
Nope
ive seen these guys in the wild. they look like something straight from a coral reef!
Are you saying they look like hammerhead sharks????
Do these work well as fishing bait?
Cuiucuiucatfish AJ i dont think anyone has every tried that. Most people would tend to avoid them, let alone try to handle one as fish bait. Theyre pretty gross sort of like slimy colorful flat mucus that causes irritation on contact, but much worse
@@junodisarapong6635 Probably not. They kinda look like an aquatic animal with a color display indicating they're toxic to eat, and you probably are introducing some of their stuff to your fish. Might as well skip that.
@@louisvictor3473 ive seen one in person once when i was a lil kid the one i saw was blue and they look very alien X'D
Note to self: don't eat a dish with noodles when watching a video about flatworms.
Oh god
My ex and I made noodles and watched youtube, we ended up on this weird surgury I seriously don"t know how we ended up in that part of youtube, but they removed worms from a mans intestines, like ALOT! We changed it to something funny and ate a few minutes later haha
Dock u
I am eating noodles right bow
"They're only noodles Michael "
adamFIVE88 youtube and chill
Invasive species: we’ve won, but at what cost?
“World is literally destroyed and near uninhabitable”
The best worm to invade my country. I am honored.
I guess it still gotta die though.
Goodbye hammerhead, it's been real but you're killing off the decomposers :(
If you only sat there looking cool and alien, it wouldn't have to be this way, but the internet says it do have to be this way, so a shotgun blast it is. Farewell, wormy!
@@ForwardSynthesis Cue "That's What Friends Do" from Spongebob's "Wormy"
what if they were put in zoos?
You can make a terrarium for some of them and take care. With the state permission of course.
That sorta looks like a nightmare planaria.
It is a terrestrial planaria
What is a planaria
@@ED11169 google it and hit images
@@ED11169 they are tiny worm that have awesome ability
I had no idea planarians could get so... fleshy
Learn something everyday. Had no idea there was such a thing as hammerhead worms. Cool.
Shauntell Holm they are killing all of the decomposers definitely not cool
Welcome to the world of.....earth i guess
@@stevejefferson635
It's called population control.
That's pretty stupid.
Al Sp... you stoopid 😜🤪😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
That's looks scary as hell. Imagine that being human sized.
I think any human sized bug would be scary lol
They honestly look cool the varieties of colors are what makes it cool to me, but i'd still burn it tho.
You'd really not like a Bobbit Worm then
The fact that this worm was inspiration for the Hammerpede in Prometheus makes this even more disturbing
I thought so.
Where's its counterpart, the Sickle Worm?
Together they are too powerful, we cannot untie them or they will seize the means of production
Oli M Thomas they will take all our vodka and earthworms
We’ll have none of that commie shite around here!
(It’s more funny in my head as I hear Frankie Boyle yelling it)
They can be Creeping Soul Mates
It starved, or might be in an internment camp somewhere.
"Their prey will most likely not like this..."
Yeah I wonder why you wouldnt like not getting eaten
I came across this worm a year ago and was thinking I maybe discovered a new species. I would have killed it if I knew it wasn't native to France and eats earthworms. There are still many earthworms when I dig, so maybe it died from the cold
Killing them is quite difficult as they are planarians which means if you cut them apart each piece will just grow into a new worm.
Dragrath1 I’m sure crushing and stomping it will do the job though
Cast Firaga👌
KILL IT WHIT *salt*
Kill it with fire
this thing is an actual demon but tiny. amazing.
plaguelock r/woooosh
plaguelock dude chill you must be fun at parties 😂
Walter You’re probably that one dude everyone is “friends with,” until you exit the vicinity.
Love this channel, if you ever need/want a guest narrator let me know.
Ngl at first I was wondering why you proposed such an offer, and after watching a couple of vids I have to admit you actually do have a good narrating voice 😂
I know you
They are invasive in the San Fransisco Bay Area. Thank you for a concise summary of important facts about this exotic species that is showing up in temperate and mediterranean climates
"Oh! So a bag'o'salt will deal with the bugger." Said earthworm Jim , as he cackled manically.
I learned this thing existed when I found a snail trail one left coming out of my floor vent, having died and quickly dried out only feet away. Gross way to learn about a creature, but a fascinating fella regardless
I never knew they even existed. And I spend the majority of my free time researching different biology/zoology topics..... so well done!!
MonsterBaby Steve Wilson theyre pretty common in south east asia. EVERYONE here hates them. Hard to kill, slimy and very disguisting.
Oh, so that's what those things are. I've seen them quite a few times after it rained. I assumed they were weird slugs at first. I never knew they were earthworm predators with a gruesomely bizarre way of eating, nor I knew they were invincible to predators. Along with octopuses and tartigrades, these worms sure look alien.
I was ready to get some and go fishing till he said they were toxic, bummer. Still prettiest worm I've ever seen.
But what is the physiological function of the head shape
DARKSTAR 7567 I am only assuming the head functions somewhat the same way of the hammerhead sharks head, and other animals with similar morphology. The frayed head filled with sensory organs gives a better image to the creatures on where their prey is. I can imagine the worms using the hammerhead in the soil to pick up small vibrations that earth worms (their prey) make when tunneling.
Maybe the head can smell the slime trails. That is actually a thing for predators of worms in the sea.
Might be for better grip seems hard to do that with a round head it looks like it uses the head to wrap around the prey
Best guess: 'The heads are dotted with chemoreceptors (a sense organ) and organs that scientists call eyes, though it's not really clear how much light those "eyes" can detect, Ducey said. No one knows for sure why the worms' heads are so weird-looking, but it could have to do with the positioning of these sensory organs, he said.
"If you have a big, broad head and you have chemical receptors on both sides of it, you can compare the right side and the left side," Ducey said. If one side detects more earthworm scent, he said, it could signal the worm to crawl in that direction.' - LiveScience [Peter Ducey is a biologist at The State University of New York, Cortland.]
Easier to enter your nightmares and feed on your terror
Me, seeing the thumbnail & title: "ah hell nah!"
*proceeds to watch anyways*
Yes it felt like a duty for learning. I'm glad it has no mouth.
I used to play with these as a kid, they ran rampant under our mobile home. It was like another world under that house, since it was built where a ranch previously was, huge groups of mushrooms (psychedelic, cubensis more specifically but unknown to me the time) completely covered the ground under there. It made no difference to me though, I would gather up hammerhead worms and play with them in a small stone "arena" in the center of the mushrooms, where the fungus didn't grow. They're very soft to the touch and don't leave a slimy residue on your hands like slugs do.
They’re oddly beautiful but they also make me feel like scratching all my skin off.
3:35 damn I was really looking forward to eating those
Me: **eating chips**
Ben: **starts describing how the worm eats its prey**
Me: **immediately stops eating chips**
R u a chip
What a beautiful, disgusting, cruel, strange and interesting creature this is. I had never heard of this worm before. That’s why I watch this channel 😃. One is never too old to learn. Thanks guys.
I found one of these in southern California. It freaked me out. 😶
I used to have a pet one I caught in my front yard after a hard rain. I found it feeding on a large earthworm.
Careful they're poisonous
I have once found one under a rock in my garden here in switzerland, i didnt know what it was or that it wasnt native. Next time I see one I'm probably going to try and keep it in captivity.
Probably a good idea since is not native I mean there's really only two choices death our life in prison.
I'll looking through the comments and these little bastards really do seem to be everywhere. I know we have them here in Florida, but we have all kinds of invasive pests.
@@thespookyvaginosisnut5984 shots fired
You're going to have to feed it worms. Good luck finding worms every day. Maybe have a worm bin? Make life simple, take a picture of it, then kill it with salt.
@@cadenrolland5250 don't that's cruel.
"it's not edible"
East Asia: Challenge Accepted
Wow. What a strange varmint. Mother Nature never disappoints!👍👍👍
I've never heard of these before. You guys never cease to amaze!
Thank you, I love learning about new creatures and this is definitely one I had not heard of before!
Channels like this are really underrated. And you really got a good voice for documentaries.
I love these animal of the week shows. Seeing these bizarre creatures I've never heard of is amazing.
They're beautiful worms. Thank you for making this video, wouldn't have learned about them otherwise.
Beautiful, and they didn’t ask to be in Ontario but dangerous, destructive and invasive. I will have a bucket of soapy water!
Interestin video I didn't know these worms exists.
So among animals of the week we have:
12 Mammals
5 Birds
4 Reptiles
1 Amphibian
4 Fish
4 Invertebrates
Damm amphibians need some love :/
Ill have to get on that and chose an amphibian for the next video
Invertebrates are even more underrepresented, and are way more interesting though.
Myobatrachus gouldii (turtle frog) and the Nasikabatrachus (purple frogs) would be good candidates for amphibian episodes.
@@olimthomas6515 Glass Frog would be interesting
The amphibians will all be dead soon anyways.
The variety of color schemes this worm has is fascinating! Natural art even.
I saw a few in Escondido, CA when I was a teenager in the early 1990s. I saw then during the day and thought they were a type of slug because of the mucus trail the leave.
I didn't even know this was a thing. The more you know!
Interesting that one has similar, though not the same, coloration to a coral snake.
Thanks for introducing me to an animal I didn't know before!
I just spotted one today and it felt so surreal because I've never seen one before, it's like meeting your teacher at the mall
WORM WEEK!
WORM WEEK, WORM WEEK, WORM WEEK!
i would love to have one of these as a pet... it seems like something that would work well in a vivarium
Thank you, now I know more of my little friends. Every time there's a lot of rain they just like to hang around my open garage.
I remember finding one of these when I was still in high school in southeastern PA under a cinderblock, over 20 years ago. An all-brown colored version like one of the first ones shown in this vid IIRC. I gave it to my science teacher to try and ID it, but we had no luck back then.
0:58 Hammer Head shark.........."and THAT kids,is how i met your mother!"
Michael Kelligan omg ;-;
@@Starpentine lol you know you laughed! 😁
Reminds me of the movie Prometheus.. with that weird cobra worm alien thing that acts like a facehugger..
That was my first thought also.
It was named as a hammerhead btw.
Before watching the video, I thought It was a beautiful cane. Invasive yes. Also beautiful.
Dude worm week is actually turning out to be fire af
Looking at the thumbnail, I was like "WHAT IN THE WORLD?!" You gotta admit tho, their skin patterns are pretty.
It has a "Creeping Soul"!
I had one of these crawl out of my garden hose a few years back in Northern California. I thought it was some sort of parasite. Thankfully the internet put my fears to rest.
Well.
It is an invasive dangerous animal.
So I guess it counts as a "parasite"
Bro. Love your channel. You're literally showing strange species that I haven't seen before.
That's a cool worm!
not if you see them in real. Theyre pretty gross.
I live is Southeast Asia and back at my old house in the country side, these guys would climb out of the cracks and crevices everytime there's rain.
As long as they don’t get indoor. 😁
The forbidden gummy worm
I remember seeing this thing for the first time ever, in north Texas, and didn’t know what the hell it was.
1:56 I'm never touching another HB pencil again!
Never heard of this animal, thanks for the video. God I love our planet, what amazing evolution.
We need to start breeding the great white worm in order to contain this invasive hammerhead species.
This is the coolest thing I’ve seen all week.
I saw one in the garden of my church at California
I was 8 or 9 years old.
Guy, guys, guys, I cannot stress this enough....do not eat them.
Imma eat one.
@@SluttChops same
Interestingly in the more northern parts of North America where native Earthworms were wiped out by glaciation they have actually become a helpful ally in controlling the nonnative Earthworms that eat the leaf litter native plants have evolved to depend on not getting eaten.
I also find it ironic that some of the most invasive predatory flatworms actually come from New Guinea and New Zealand making them probably one of the few invasive species that come from an isolated island rather than the other way around. Of course New Zealand's biodiversity outside of large vertebrates more closely resembles that of other continental flora and fauna due to it really being a submerged continental landmass
A Hammerhead Worm?
A Hammerhead Shark?
A Hammerhead Bat?.....But wait the Hammerhead Bat doesn't really have a "Hammer- Shaped Head,thou.
holy shit , If reincarnation is a thing , I don't want to come back as it's food source ..........
Im number 1 and also that worm is realy weird its like a snake but no eyes but is small and has a hammer head
As what the video told us. Are you smoking of idiot echo?
Watching this in celebration of Worm Week!
I used to see these in my childhood home's garden. Nobody knew what they were and were dismissed as slugs because of the slime trail they left.
Fuck.
I hope your governament interveened.
😥
Spider: "I'm creepy!"
Hammerhead worm: "Hold my beer."
Goblin shark : hold my fins
Its a flatworm? Really? A FLATWORM?
I was always taught flatworms were either aquatic or parasitic, and that they had simple bodies that relied on diffusion to get oxygen. Then these guys show up with the muscles to chase down and wrap around an earthworm. The things you find in the dark corners of the world.
The best part was after watching this short vid.. I saw a little orange specimen crawling slowly at the side of the house, it was chasing a little earthworm but after watching for a few good 30 minutes the hammerhead worm got side tracked and lost the worm for some reason. It was interesting to observe the hunt in person and a bit funny. It was the slowest chase of all time.
Great vid.
I found one of these under a rock when I was a kid and it really freaked me out for some reason.
3:30 - chinese be like: "are you charrenging me"
a little racist
Beautiful worm, but I'd prefer snails and earthworms.
I found one of these years ago and had no idea what it could be. Thanks for giving me closure.
I found one of these on my porch a couple years back - it was moving exactly like a snake would, and before I got close enough to take a good look at it, I thought it was some incredibly tiny snake!
The first time I saw this it was eating an earthworm and I thought it was a snake😂. But seriously I was real mad as I loved earthworms and the next time I saw them I would kill them pretty quickly 👍👍
Ok...
Kinda messed up since you did not know these things were dangerous....
But you did good
I enjoyed the video but doesn't it seem glaring we dont get an explanation for what purpose the hammerhead body part has or why it evolved?
Every time I see a Ben G Thomas video's thumbnail I always want to call bullshit haha but they are all real, grotesquely real.
First hammerhead sharks now this! This is epic
"they decimate earthworm populations..."
so, they reduce it by 1/10? is this per year? over many years?
as an educator, and someone i assume has at least a passing knowledge of Latin, please be precise, and stop slurring the word 'decimate'.
otherwise, love the channel :P
While I do agree with you on how he should have specified.
We still have to consider that these are invasive species.
So, the sooner we act, the better it will be.
Worms can reproduce pretty fast.
Tarsiers should be the next animal of the week
Didn't know these existed. This species has eluded me during my childhood of watching documentaries and my adulthood with an internet conection. Cool
I clicked on the video because just today in the morning I saw one of these near the well. First I thought it an earthworm and then freaked out seeing that head shape lol 😂
Everything: What even are you?
Worms: ......
I live in East Texas. Saw one of these Critters last Fall and let it go as I tend not to Kill Critters Out of Hand.
What I just learned from watching this video: This is one of those rare "Kill On Sight" Critters... Got It, Thank You!
Used these and other worms and insects as source of entertainment as a kid. My own little monsterverse
I’ve seen one as a child... I cannot forget this worm.