Help ID this alien creature

[Snagglehook]

Found this thing in my sink today.



So while I was looking for the blowtorch to clean/annihilate my sink with the purifying power of fire, I remembered that a customer had hooked me up with some razor clams this morning and I was rinsing off some of the sand in that sink.

Maybe this creature is from this planet, perhaps of the sea. But was it a stowaway? A parasite? Or have we been misled on how clams have babies? Anyone have any idea what this thing is?

Here's a shot of the other side in case Sir Mix a Lot is a forum member.

 

[Modest_Man]

It's a nemertean worm.

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/mrp/shellfish/other/Malacobdella.asp

 

[playhooky]

Looks chewy! But.....probably won't be trying one. Interesting. [emoji106]

 

[Snagglehook]

But was it a stowaway? A parasite?

The worm is thought to be commensally parasitic (i.e. does not negatively affect its host) with clams and snails living in their mantles and eating plankton. Ironically, this “parasite” hosts its own variety of parasites including Haplosporidium malacobdellae, a sporozoan, which can cause castration or death to the worm.

Oh, so like an unwelcomed roommate that's on time with rent but prone to debilitating venereal diseases? I've had those.

The roomates, not the diseases.

 

[bass]

It's a nemertean worm.

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/mrp/shellfish/other/Malacobdella.asp

Thanks! It is great to have such a fountain of knowledge around. I was going to make a completely uninformed guess that it was some kind of leech

 

[Aervax]

It is odd and scary that you actually know what that is. Are you the Rainman of marine invertebrates, or a scientist who studies that kind of stuff?

 

[Modest_Man]

Maybe a little of both? I knew it was a flatworm but had to look up which species. I have found them before when cleaning razor clams. Showed one to my wife and now I get to eat ALL the clams.

 

[BaldTexan]

Looks like a Berkley Gulp sand worm. Go catch a surf perch!

 

[wils]

Let us know how it tastes.