Outlandish Snake Found in Virginia Is Actually An Invasive Worm

The snake found in Virginia recently was identified as a large invasive species of an Asian worm. Authorities from Virginia Wildlife Management and Control have posted photos of the weird-looking "snake" noting that someone found it in Midlothian, Virginia, and called the Snake Identification Hotline for help.

On their Facebook page, they said that they have been identifying snakes every year, but they have not yet seen anything like it before. So they asked people if anyone knows what the animal was. They described the "snake" as being around 10-12 inches long.

But later on, it was identified by the company as the hammerhead worm, which is an invasive worm. The Texas Invasive Species Institute said that the hammerhead worm is a terrestrial flatworm Native to the tropics and subtropics, particularly in Southeast Asia. They have both the female and male genitalia, which makes them a hermaphrodite, according to Biologydictionary.net.

Meanwhile, netizens could not help but also comment on the matter, saying that it was one of those "immortal worms" that are hard to kill. Some also suggest putting salt or vinegar to burn the invasive worm.

According to LiveScience, flatworms have an extraordinary superpower as they could regenerate. If they are cut to bits and pieces, they can regrow into new worms, that even a 1/300 size could still regrow into complete worms. Therefore, cutting them is no use in killing these worms.

Hammerhead Worms Invade the US

In a report by The Sacramento Bee, the Texas Invasive Species Institute said that hammerhead worm is believed to have made its way to the United States decades ago in the horticulture trade. Since then, specimens have been found in greenhouses as far as north in Maine.

Moreover, the institute said that although Virginia is not one of the states where the worms have invaded, hammerhead worms have turned up in nearby North Carolina.

Neither the person who found the hammerhead worm nor the exact location where it was found was identified. Besides, the Virginia Wildlife Management officials said that the McClatchy News did not kill the hammerhead worm as they only left it there.

Hammerhead Worms

Hammerhead worms have a fan-shaped head like the hammerhead shark. The underside of the worm has a large "creeping sole" that they use for moving. They are differentiated based on their head, size, color and stripe patterns.

Some hammerhead worm species include B. adventitium which could grow from 5cm to 8cm in length and the B. kewense worms that can grow over 20cm.

Furthermore, hammerhead worms are not an edible type of worm, unlike other types of worms. It contains harmful toxins that it uses against its prey. This potent neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin is also found in pufferfish, blue-ringed octopus, and rough-skinned newts. So far, scientists have not seen this toxin in any other terrestrial invertebrate but only on hammerhead worms.

Above all, hammerhead worms are invasive creatures that pose threats in the balance of an ecosystem. They are known to prey on earthworms which are vital in fertilizing the soil that is good for the plants.