The American News
Oakland, California - Thousands of ' penis fishes ' have washed ashore Drakes beach in California. Otherwise known as the fat innkeeper worm, expert theorized that the recent storm have forced them out of their underwater burrows and carried them to the Drakes beach leaving them dead and exposed to many predators.
This weird looking pinkish aquatic creature can reach up to 10 inches in size and many prefer to call it as ' Penis fish ' because from it's appearance, it literally looks like a male genitalia.
The Penis fish creates a U-shaped burrows in mud or sand and eventually would leave it behind and other sea creatures would dwell in it or move - hence it is also referred to as the innkeeper worm.
The legions of Penis fishes washed on Drakes beach was spotted by a Marine biologist Ivan Parr on December 6 after a storm hit the area. According to Parr, the same odd phenomenon have occurred over the years in Pajardo Dunes, Moss landing, Bodega bay and Princeton harbour.
Marine biologists call this odd looking Marine creature as echira worm ( Urechis unicintus ) It is a type of round worm that dwells at the sea floor. It has a spatula-looking limb that it use to both feed and mobilize in water. It spends most of it's existence under the muddy and Sandy part of the ocean floor. This invertebrate can reach a lifespan of 25 years.
This soft and corpulent round worm is typically slow and most of the times ended up as prey to otter, sharks and rays. It is completely harmless to humans because it has no teeth. In some parts of Asia like China, South Korea and Hong Kong, it is considered as an expensive delicacy. It is eaten raw ( sometimes live ) or cooked in various ways. It has strange pudgy texture upon bite and the taste is similar to the mangrove worm ( tamilok ) of the South East Asia.
Blacktrident
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