Worms change their sex according to their living environment

Scientists discovered a strange sea worm species whose sex is determined by the environment.

When diving in the Mediterranean, we can see a strange green worm like a spoon with the scientific name Bonellia viridis. They are Echiura-class creatures. Animals of this class are difficult to collect and difficult to distinguish, so it is not surprising that many of them are still not well understood, according to Earth Touch News.

Sea worms Bonellia viridis is moving under the sea.(Video: YouTube).

The green Bonellia viridis worms begin to float in the water as undivided larvae and do not carry color. Their gender will differentiate into males or females depending on where they live.

"If Bonellia viridis larvae landed on the seabed, it would become a female and begin to produce toxins called bonellin," Andrew Thaler, a deep-sea ecologist, wrote in Southern Fried Science. Bonellin is responsible for creating the green color of the female worm, and plays an important role in the survival of the genes.

Thaler explained that, if another larvae were exposed to the bonellin toxin, it would transform into a male and be sucked into the female body through the tap. Once inside the body of the female, the male will assume the task as a sperm bank. Females hold males in genital sac to fertilize on demand.

Worms Bonellia viridis specializes in the seabed.(Photo: Quora).

Worms Bonellia viridis has well-developed muscles. They have three layers of muscle surrounding a fluid body filled with fluid. By contracting the muscle in a wave-like pattern, the worm moves the liquid inside the body to the head. As the liquid swells in the direction the worms want to move, the muscles relax and contract several times to help the animal move.