Worms named 'fish penis' can eat raw

The Urechis unicinctus worm is very similar in shape to the human genitals, used as food for many countries.

Igor Adameyko recorded the stout Urechis unicinctus worms when he visited a biology research station in the Far East, Russia, Long Room reported on February 3. The 37-year-old Swedish researcher runs a laboratory and has a great passion for marine biology.

This worm, called "penis" , lives on the sea floor and is often eaten with salt and sesame oil in Korea, Japan, and China. Possessing the shape of human genitalia, they are very soft and passive, evocative of a ripe sausage bar.

"U. unicinctus worm is completely harmless to humans because it has no teeth and feels very comfortable to touch. Moreover, in Asian countries such as Korea or China, they are also used as food. eat, can eat raw or cooked in many different ways , " Adameyko said.

U. unicinctus worms usually live in caves under mud and sand in the seabed. They feed by creating mucus nets that trap plankton floating in the water. When they caught enough food, they swallowed the net. Their U-shaped cave structures are also used by many other organisms as temporary or permanent shelters.

"For this reason, the worm U. unicinctus is also called the innkeeper . It seems like the residents live in no harm to them," Adameyko said.

Urechis unicinctus spoonworm.

U. unicinctus worm is only about 20 cm long but its cave can be up to meters deep. They pump water into the cave by the wave motion of shrinking muscles that run along the body.

Video worms are collected by professional divers to help biologists at the research station. At first, they were used for research on marine animals.