Worm (?) - found it on the sandy bottom in Cozumel

[beachnik]

The aluminum rod that you see in the screen capture is about 3/8 inch diameter. You can see a bit of a pointy tail at one end. The other end is buried in the sand and wants to stay there.

Any ideas?

 

[TheRealScubaSteve]

No idea, but cool find!

 

[Kharon]

Looks exactly like a millipede. Don't know if they go underwater but it sure looks like one or something very, very closely related.

 

[beachnik]

Looks exactly like a millipede. Don't know if they go underwater but it sure looks like one or something very, very closely related.

Thanks Karon. I think you're on to something there. I did a quick search - haven't had enough time to dig through it - but it looks promising.

We don't see a lot of millipedes here in Manhattan Beach, so that thought hadn't occurred to me. But you are right, it does look like a millipede. It might not be apparent from the photos, but there are very tiny leg like structures on the underside - just barely visible.

---------- Post added November 21st, 2015 at 10:01 AM ----------

Further to that…

It looks like this is a critter that might commonly be called 'rag worm' or 'clam worm'. Probably from the Family: Nereididae (formerly Nereidae).

There are about 500 mostly marine species and I haven't found any photos - taken in Cozumel - of this same critter.

I've done about 800 dives in Cozumel, this is the first time I've seen this. They're probably everywhere and I didn't notice - wouldn't be the first time : )

Which reminds me, before I left Cozumel a week ago, I showed the video to a DM whom I've dove with for years, he got a smile on his face and said "I've never seen that before"

: )

 

[Diver0001]

There are many species of aquatic worms so it's not surprising that you found one.

I don't recognize this particular worm off hand but you might want to try looking at Bobbit worms. If you got a look at the head-end it would help. In any case it has a "segmented" structure so you should include this in your search parameters.

R..

 

[CuzzA]

Black Eunicid Worm