Mythical ‘horror’ shipworm that grows up to FIVE FEET LONG finally caught 300 years after it was first spotted
Creepy beastie has eluded scientists ever since the 'tusk-like shell' it lives in was found in the 1800s
SCIENTISTS have finally glimpsed a huge, black five-foot-long worm which has eluded humans for centuries.
The mud-dwelling beastie, that has been memorably described as a "science fiction horror worm", lives inside a shell resembling an elephant tusk.
These large casings were first documented in the 18th century, but the nightmarish creature that lives inside them has never been seen - until now.
"The shells are fairly common," said Daniel Distel, a research professor and director of the Ocean Genome Legacy Center at Northeastern University.
"But we have never had access to the animal living inside."
The creepy creature is a type of shipworm and has the scientific name Kuphus polythalamia.
It's beast is a type of shipworm, a species which generally eats wood.
But the mega-worm lives in a lagoon that's "laden with rotten wood" where it "uses a noxious gas in mud to survive".
Scientists found one of the worms living in a "pretty stinky place": a lagoon in the Philippines where they were "planted like carrots" in sticky, sulphur-rich mud.
It feeds on sulphur, a chemical with a rotten egg smell, which is produced by wood as it rot.
"I was awestruck when I first saw the sheer immensity of this bizarre animal," said Marvin Altamia, researcher at the University of the Philippines' marine sciences institute.
Friendly bacteria which live inside the worm feast on the sulphur produced by the mud and then break it down into carbon.
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This process is similar to photosynthesis, which allows plants to use the sun's energy to convert carbon dioxide from the air into simple carbon compounds.
This means the worm's own organs have shrunk over the course of its evolution.
"Being present for the first encounter of an animal like this is the closest I will ever get to being a 19th century naturalist," said Margo Haygood, a research professor in medicinal chemistry at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy.
"We suspected the giant shipworm was radically different from other wood-eating shipworms.
"Finding the animal confirmed that."
If you think the monster worm was creepy, wait until you hear about research which suggests humanity evolved from a bag-like sea creature which had a large mouth and no anus.
Last week, scientists also found the remains of a "crocosaurus" that's the missing link between dinosaurs and crocodiles.
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