id: 10872603
Scientific ID: Bipalium sp.
Family : Geoplanidae
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The hammerhead worm (Bipalium sp.) is a terrifying, toxic terrestrial flatworm.
This large planarian lives on land and is both a predator and a cannibal.
While the distinctive-looking worms don\'t pose a direct threat to human beings,
they\'re an invasive species that packs the power to eradicate earthworms.
Hammerhead worms are native to tropical and subtropical regions but have become invasive worldwide.
Bipalium worms are carnivores, known to prey on earthworms, slugs, insect larvae, and each other.
The worms detect prey using chemoreceptors located under the head or ventral groove.
A hammerhead worm tracks its prey, pushes it against a surface, and entangles it in slimy secretions.
While some types of worms are edible, the hammerhead worm is certainly not among them.
The planarian contains the potent neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin, which the worm uses to immobilize prey and deter predators.
The toxin is also found in pufferfish, the blue-ringed octopus, and rough-skinned newts, but was not known to occur in any species of terrestrial invertebrate prior to its discovery in the hammerhead worm.
(source:https://www.thoughtco.com/)
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