{"id":733525,"date":"2026-08-10T13:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T13:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/733525\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T13:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T13:46:11","slug":"stuff-of-nightmares-meet-the-bootlace-worm-super-long-super-elastic-and-it-fires-toxic-slime-marine-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/733525\/","title":{"rendered":"Stuff of nightmares? Meet the bootlace worm \u2013 super-long, super-elastic, and it fires toxic slime | Marine life"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the shuddery stuff of nightmares for some, but for a select group who admire extending ladders, giraffes and the Odyssey, one of the longest animals in the world is bound to appeal.<\/p>\n

This creature is nneither the blue whale, nor a lion\u2019s mane jellyfish but the humble bootlace worm, Lineus longissimus, one of the most remarkable marine invertebrates of them all.<\/p>\n

It can stretch out longer than an Olympic swimming pool. In fact, one worm, found washed ashore after a storm at St Andrews, was recorded at an incredible 55 metres in length. Worm-sceptics suggest it may have been stretched out, because the species is also very elastic. A more usual length is a mere 15 metres. Its width is just 5\u201310mm.<\/p>\n

When threatened, the bootlace worm discharges a poisonous mucus. Photograph: Nature Photographers Ltd\/Alamy<\/p>\n

This slender, super-long superworm has a second superpower: it can fire toxic slime. When threatened, the blackish-brown bootlace worm discharges a poisonous mucus which may remind you of the smell of sewage if you pick up a beached worm.<\/p>\n

Although the Swedish archbishop and naturalist Olaus Magnus<\/a> first noted its toxic slime back in 1555, it wasn\u2019t until 2018 that the worm\u2019s toxins were fully described<\/a> by (Swedish) scientists. Its mucus was designed to paralyse and kill crabs.<\/p>\n

Researchers have discovered the toxins, known as alpha-nemertides, can also kill cockroaches but have little impact on mammals, leading to the possibility that they could be the basis for new insecticides. There are likely to be many more useful chemicals and medicines still to be discovered<\/a> within the invertebrate world.<\/p>\n

The bootlace worm is one of many little-known nemerteans \u2013 ribbon or proboscis worms. The phylum contains more than 1,250 described species of worms which are found everywhere from intertidal zones to great ocean depths \u2013 a little-heralded but rich and vital branch of the tree of life.<\/p>\n

This record-breaking and yet rather overlooked worm is a voracious and extremely effective predator, enjoying nothing more than swallowing annelids (soft-bodied, segmented worms) whole. It was nominated by a reader who says it is \u201ca neglected but quite amazing branch on the tree of life. The longest of all wormy creatures (up to 15m?!) and only a few mm wide.\u201d He loves \u201ca worm that can stretch and stretch and stretch\u201d and argues that it is one of the \u201cmany amazing creatures contributing to Britain\u2019s coastal heritage\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Long, slimy and lethal \u2013 what\u2019s not to love? Vote bootlace worm!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s invertebrate of the year again! From 3-12 August, every day we will profile one of the thousands of amazing invertebrates that our readers have nominated. And then, when you\u2019ve heard about all of them, we\u2019ll open the voting so you can choose your favourites. Don\u2019t hesitate to get in touch with thoughts and ideas: email us at environment.desk@theguardian.com<\/a> with Invertebrate in the subject line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s the shuddery stuff of nightmares for some, but for a select group who admire extending ladders, giraffes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":733526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-733525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-gb","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}