Creepy worms are moving into New England
SREEJITH VISWANATHAN photo
Hammerhead worm
Excerpted from an ecoRI News article by Frank Carini.
This diverse group of invertebrates are long, soft, typically lack appendages, and usually have no eyes. They also have some of the best names: hammerhead, snake, leech and sand striker.
The last — a fearsome-jawed worm that eats fish and can grow up to 10 feet long — is typically found in shallow tropical marine waters around the world, but the other three can be found here. The first two, however, are invasive — one can jump and the other is toxic.
Native to Asia and Madagascar, the hammerhead worm was transported to Europe and the United States in shipments of exotic plants. It has been in the United States since the early 1900s and is most commonly found in states such as Louisiana, where conditions are warm and humid. But now, as the climate warms, these invasive worms are spreading.
In 2022, some of these worms were found in a Harrisville, R.I., yard….
Hammerhead worms produce a neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin, which is also found in puffer fish. These worms can also transmit harmful parasites to humans and animals, and they regenerate from segments if they are cut up.