Monster 'Bobbit' worm (Eunice aphroditois) discovered at Maidenhead Aquatics @ Woking

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This video was taken at our Woking store, Surrey, at the beginning of October 2013. This beast was discovered whilst we were striping down our 200 litres reef display aquarium due to some essential maintenance. From the ruler in the foreground, you can see it is of an impressive size and has divided into 3 viable parts!

The Bobbit (or Eunice) worm (Eunice aphroditois) is an aquatic predatory polychaete worm dwelling at the ocean floor. This organism buries its long body into an ocean bed composed of gravel, mud or corals, where it waits patiently for outside stimulus to reach one of its five antennae, attacking when it senses prey. Armed with sharp teeth, it is known to attack with such speeds that its prey is sometimes sliced in half. Although the worm hunts for food, it is omnivorous. They originate from areas of the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic.

These impressive worms can grow to sizes of nearly 3 metres! However, most grow to about 1 metre in length and have an average diameter of 25mm.

Whilst very seldom found in aquariums, Bobbit worms are more than likely to be introduced to aquariums while hidden in live rock.

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Please note that we cannot answer questions via this site- please call one of our stores for any queries you may have regarding this video or any other aquatic topic. Thank you