This Worm Is Freaking Us Out

Finish your meal or whatever it is you have to do today and then watch this worm.

It's a ribbon worm, and it is truly wild.

It's like Spider-Man.

But more nightmarish.

OK. Gifs are over. Now it's time to learn.

The white substance that is shooting out of the ribbon worm in the video uploaded to YouTube on Sunday is its proboscis. As Science Alert explains, it's used for catching prey:

When the worm is hunting, however, that highly efficient, stretchy feeding tube will unfurl and emerge just above its mouth, to cover its prey in a thick, sticky, and slightly pungent mucus.

The mucus contains a neurotoxin that can paralyze the worm's prey so it can more easily kill it.

There are more than 1,000 species of ribbon worms, according to Smithsonian, but it's unclear which species the one in the video is.

Now you know more about the substance that ruined your day.

H/T BuzzFeed



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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/05/worm-video_n_7213380.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news&ir=Weird+News and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com