Bootlace worm

The bootlace worm ( Lineus longissimus). Image credit: Cédric Audibert / AnimalBase Project Group, www.animalbase.uni-goettingen.de. The The species is When the bootlace worm is irritated, it releases large amounts of thick mucus that is poisonous for crustaceans. “We already know that peptide toxins are found in, for example, cone shells that live in tropical waters,” he said. “Bootlace worm live in colder waters, for example, the coastlines of Great Britain and Norway and the west coast of Sweden.” “This peptide toxin, named nemertide α-1, is the most poisonous substance to have been found in Sweden’s animal kingdom and the fact that it may be possible to use it makes the discovery even more exciting.” Toxins often affect the ionic channels, that is, proteins that control the transport of different ions in and out of cells. Professor Göransson’s team showed that the isolated toxin impedes the inactivation of the sodium channels in three species of invertebrate animals: the German cockroach, fruit fly and Varroa mite. That causes continual electric signalling in nerves and muscles, which gives rise to paralysis. Laboratory tests were conducted to investigate how the toxin affects the sodium channels of mammals. There, the reaction was not nearly as strong. “Therefore, we believe nemertide α-1 is probably not poisonous for humans or other mammals,” the researchers said. “Today, similar neurotoxins that have been extracted from snakes, spiders and cone shells are used, for ...

ribbon worm, also called bootlace worm, proboscis worm, nemertine, or nemertean, any member of the The ribbon worms are the simplest animals to possess a Lineus longissimus may reach a length of 30 m (100 feet). Some forms that swim in deep water are flat and broad, with finlike appendages. Often uniformly coloured, various species of ribbon worms are vividly patterned with stripes, bands, speckles, or geometric shapes. Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz Male and female ribbon worms occur in most species, with annual reproduction typical. Usually eggs and Prostoma and Geonemertes, the species may be either dioecious ( i.e., separate male and female animals) or hermaphroditic ( i. e. male and female reproductive organs in one animal). All ribbon worms have the ability to regenerate lost or damaged parts of their bodies; some species actually break up and form a number of fragments, which then grow into complete individuals. This mechanism provides asexual reproduction. The

Bootlace Worm Profile Worms are well known for being the most docile and polite creatures on Earth. But there are hundreds of billions of worms for every human on the planet, and they’re not all gentle. Many are microscopic parasites, and at least one is possibly the longest animal on earth: a toxic predator called the bootlace worm. Bootlace Worm Facts Overview Habitat: Colder, temperate waters Location: Northern Europe, Baltic areas Lifespan: Unknown Size: At least 30 m (100 ft), maybe up to 55 m (189 ft) Weight: Unrecorded Color: Orange-red with a white belly Diet: Smaller invertebrates, fishes Predators: Possibly crustaceans Top Speed: Slow No. of Species: 1 Conservation Status: Not Listed (IUCN) Bootlace worms are long. Nobody knows for sure how long, on account of them coiling up like a tangled set of earphones and being exceedingly stretchy when laid out on the beach. However, they’re certainly one of the longest animals on earth and come with some scary poison too. These ocean predators float about in the water column and scan the sea bed for prey in the temperate waters of Northern Europe, often surprising divers with their ability to collapse in on themselves. But it’s their toxic mucous that makes them a potential wonder animal. It contains an effective pesticide that may be useful in fighting colony collapse disorder in bees and fighting off common crop pests on farms and in gardens. Interesting Bootlace Worm Facts 1. This one’s not named after Linnaeus This mi...

The longest creature in the oceans is no giant. Although it’s longer than any shark, whale, squid, or other denizen of the marine world, you could step right over it on the beach -- several times, in fact -- without even noticing it. That’s because while it could stretch half the length of a football field, it’s not much thicker than a strand of spaghetti. A preserved bootlace worm. Credit: Wikipedia The bootlace worm is one of several hundred species of flat worms that belong to a group known as Nemertea. Most inhabit the oceans, while a few live in fresh water . Most of them are only a few inches to a few feet long. But the bootlace just keeps going and going and going. It can grow to 30 feet or longer, and the longest stretch more than 150 feet. They’re found in the waters around western Europe. They’re often found onshore, wiggling beneath boulders and atop the sand. Bootlace worms feed through a tube known as a proboscis. When a bootlace finds prey, it uses strong muscles to squeeze out the proboscis. A hook on the end of it grabs the prey. The bootlace also produces a sticky mucus that basically glues the worm to its meal. It then ties itself around the prey like a ribbon on a birthday package. It can then pull the prey in through its mouth, just below the proboscis, and swallow it whole. So while the bootlace worm is less ferocious looking than some other long ocean dwellers, it survives in the same way -- by gobbling up the smaller ones.

A man living in the Caribbean country, Saint Lucia, recently posted the below video of a strange, alien-like creature to twitter asking “Anybody know what this is?” And the answer is apparently twofold: It’s a prime example of Lineus longissimus, a.k.a., a bootlace worm, as well as the closest thing to an Anybody know what this is? It’s unclear where exactly this particular bootlace worm came from. Presumably, on a beach in the discoverer’s home country. It kind of seems, however, like the normal “who, when, where, why” questions don’t really apply here. All that matters is understanding what in According Lineus longissimus in particular, is the possession of a proboscis; hence the alternative name. A proboscis isan appendage that, in the case of ribbon worms, Another specimen of bootlace worm. The other particularly notable feature of the bootlace worm is that it is one of the longest— Lineus longissimuscan grow up to 30-50 meters in length; there is evidence of one specimen from 1864 stretching out to 55 meters, or over 180 feet. For reference, the average adult female Blue Whale is roughly 80 feet long. The bootlace worm’s sheen of mucus, like many other ribbon worms’, contains a neurotoxin that’s used as defense to ward off predators. This toxic mucus has been observed killing cockroaches and crabs, and may even have the potential to serve as an agricultural insecticide. Luckily, however, it seems that while ribbon worms are highly toxic, they are When it comes to othe...

Bootlace worms with spooky-stretchy bodies secrete a family of toxins new to scientists. These compounds might inspire novel ways to attack pests such as cockroaches. Tests first identified the toxins in mucus coating a bootlace species that holds the record as the world’s longest animal, says pharmacognosist Ulf Göransson of Uppsala University in Sweden. This champion marine worm ( Lineus longissimus) can stretch up to 55 meters, longer than an Olympic-sized pool, and coats itself in mucus smelling a bit like iron or sewage. That goo Scientific Reports. The newly described nemertides attack tiny channels in cell walls that control the amount of sodium flowing in and out of the cell. Much vital cell business, such as communications between nerves, depends on the right flux through these voltage-gated sodium channels, as they’re called. Injections of small amounts of one of these nemertides permanently paralyzed or killed invasive green crabs ( Carcinus maenas) and young cockroaches ( Blattella germanica). “This study certainly has a lot of novelty to it, since marine worms are a tremendously neglected area of venom research,” says Bryan Grieg Fry at the University of Queensland in Australia, where he explores the evolution of animal poisons. Unlike earthworms, the 1,300 or so species of bootlace, or ribbon, worms have no segments. Some scientists give these animals their own phylum, Nemertea. Bootlace worms have a brain but no lungs. Like many other slender marine creature...

" " Hammerhead worms are carnivorous, feeding on a variety of small, soft-bodied animals — snails, slugs and earthworms — and are often even cannibalistic, sometimes eating their own. up close with nature/Getty Images Every now and again, Americans get word that a new killer invertebrate is invading our country: killer bees, But hammerhead worms, all members of the genus Bipalium, aren't something to get too fussed about as they're not a new thing in the U.S., or in most places in the world — they've been common residents of American gardens since the early 1900s. These predatory planarians are native to tropical and subtropical regions of the globe, so they love wet, warm spots. Over the course of the past couple of hundred years, global commerce has helped the hammerhead worm wriggle its way into most suitable habitats in the world — and there are a lot of suitable habitats out there, although you're unlikely to find them in a desert or at the top of a mountain. "The majority of land flatworms in the U.S. are not native," says After the digestive juices have done their business, effectively turning prey into a puddle of goo, the hammerhead worm sucks its victim in with the help of a bunch of tiny hairlike structures on its underside, called cilia. The cilia also help the worms in locomotion, acting like hundreds of microscopic legs to pull them along on a thin film of slime the worms secrete. Life cycles of flatworms are complex and differ from species to species. Hammer...

( The bootlace worm ( Lineus longissimus) is a species of Taxonomy [ ] The bootlace worm is in the phylum Description [ ] Bootlace worms may grow very long but are usually only 5 to 10 millimetres (0.20 to 0.39in) in width. The body is brown with lighter (longitudinal) stripes. In 1864, Like other nemerteans, Lineus longissimus feeds using its [ citation needed] Habitat [ ] Lineus longissimus can be found on Norway's and Britain's coasts, on the Danish east coast and also on Sweden's west coast. [ citation needed] References [ ] • UQ News . Retrieved 2018-03-30. • Strand, M., Sundberg, P. 2010. Lineus longissimus Långsnöre, p. 104 – In: • www.shetland.uhi.ac.uk . Retrieved 2023-04-22. • www.marlin.ac.uk . Retrieved 2018-03-30. • Sci.News. • Milius, Susan (2018-03-30). Science News . Retrieved 2018-03-30. • ScienceDaily . Retrieved 2018-03-30. • Gerald L. Wood Animal Facts and Feats: A Guinness Record of the Animal Kingdom, pg 334. • Laidlaw, Shawn (2020-11-23). Biology Dictionary . Retrieved 2023-04-22. External links [ ]

" " The bootlace worm is one of the longest animals on Earth. They are usually about 15 to 50 feet (5 to 15 meters) long, but they are claims of them growing up to 180 feet (55 meters) long. Wikimedia/(CC BY-SA 4.0) It's a skinny creature, not much wider than a It has no heart, no spine, no body segments. It lurks in mud, sand and rocky crevices around the North Atlantic. Its OK, but why? Ribbon worms Sometimes, the proboscis is also used as a digging tool. And it can definitely freak out predators who try to eat the worms. You can't blame other creatures for feeling confused — or even a bit intimidated — by the display. Certain ribbon worms can If John Carpenter ever remakes " The worms like to bundle themselves up Offshore, bootlace worms frequent sunlit parts of the ocean floor, winding their sinuous bodies through beds of muck and seashells. (Divers sometimes find them Noted for its dark Lineus longissimus comes in shades of black and chocolatey brown. The skin may appear iridescent or striped, at least to our fancy human eyes. Ribbon worms cannot "see" images like we can. Instead, they detect changes in light conditions through primitive, sensory " Though the bootlace worm is only 0.2 to 0.4 inches (5 to 10 millimeters) wide, it's one of the longest known animals on the planet, full stop. Bootlace worms are usually in the neighborhood of 16.4 to 32.8 feet (5 to 10 meters) in length. Pretty respectable for a worm, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. In a If you're ...