Lineus longissimus

Lineus longissimus

Lineus longissimus belongs to the string worms ( Nemertea ). He is a carnivorous living sea creatures. It can reach a length of more than 30 meters, making it one of the longest animals of the earth.

Features

The body diameter of the animals is from 5 to 10 mm. Lengths of five to ten meters are considered normal, but there are also lengths up to 30 meters have been observed more frequently. One even tells of a 55 -meter-long specimen, which was in 1864 after a storm on the coast of St Andrews, Scotland, found .. His color is dark brown with light brown vertical stripes.

Dissemination

Distribution areas are the brackish water zones of the seas of northwestern Europe, ie in the northeast Atlantic around the British Isles and along the Norwegian coast to the North and Baltic Seas. He lives in shallow water zones on hard ground between stones and algae, but it is also eaten on sandy or muddy ground or in tide pools.

System

The species was first described by Bishop Gunnerus as Ascaris longissima in 1770. It was confirmed in 1995 as a separate species, also in 1997.