Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Worms that Eat themselves!


"Ribbon worms eat themselves if they can’t find food."

Nemertea is a phylum of invertebrate animals also known as ribbon worms or proboscis worms.[1] Most of the 1,400 or so species are marine, with a few living in fresh water and a small number of terrestrial forms; they are found in all marine habits, and throughout the world's oceans.[2] Nemerteans are named for Nemertes, one of the Nereids of Greek mythology, and alternative spellings for the phylum have included Nemertini and Nemertinea. Libbie Hyman named them Rhynchocoela, a name used primarily in North America but gradually abandoned since the 1980s.

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