https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxtKxlR5yqM
Hey, were you looking for a video of a Dune worm puking up candle wax on someone’s hand? Well, you’re in luck! What you see in the nightmare above is a nemertea, or ribbon worm, and that string cheese it squirted out (what a horrifying grouping of words) is called a proboscis. It’s toxic.
As a second line of defense, many ribbon worms are poisonous and taste bad. Several species contain tetrodotoxin, the infamous pufferfish venom that can induce paralysis and death by asphyxia. It’s still not known exactly how the toxins are produced—they may linger in the worms from ingested bacteria—but they deter predators from taking a bite. Some even eject toxins from their proboscis. (Via)
These worms should be popped like a pimple.
(Via Smithsonian)