Worms Any soft-bodied legless animal with a length that exceeds its width is probably a worm There are many different types Most well-known are the earthworms which are segmented worms so called because their bodies are made up of different compartments or segments Other types of worm include parasites such as nematodes tapeworms and flukes leeches and flatworms Worms are found everywhere even in the most inhospitable places on the planet Where do you find Pompeii worms Pompeii worms are found very deep down in the Pacific Ocean in temperatures that are nearly hot enough to boil water They cluster on the side of hydrothermal vent chimneys close to where hot water and gases emerge from inside the Earth and spew into the sea The temperatures here average 149 F 65 C so Pompeii worms are the most heat-tolerant animals on Earth These worms grow to about 4 in 10 cm in length What is a flatworm Flatworms are the simplest type of worm and they have flat bodies that can be very thin Many are parasites like the dog tapeworm This creature has a round head that attaches to the inside of a dog’s intestines with sharp hooks From here it feeds on the partially digested food that passes through the gut from the dog’s stomach Sections of the worm drop off at its rear carrying eggs outside the body These eggs can infect another dog When were Pompeii worms discovered Only as recently as 1986 Cat tapeworms have flat ribbon-like bodies with up to 150 segments
How do you tell male and female earthworms apart Both male and female organs are present in each individual so you can’t Common earthworms are a type of segmented worm that are found all across the world They do a vital job of breaking down waste materials and improving the soil An earthworm’s body is divided into about 150 ring-like segments and it breathes through its skin They live in moist rich soil at depths of about 1 ft 30 cm In the winter earthworms dig deeper away from frost and lie coiled up in soil chambers Where do vent worms live Vent worms live deep under the Pacific Ocean near where cracks in the Earth’s surface cause temperatures to rise Chemicals and molten substances from deep in the Earth’s center form huge chimney-like structures around which vent worms live Vent worms feed with the help of billions of bacteria inside their red gills that convert harmful sulfurous chemicals collected from the vents into energy These remarkable creatures can survive in sea temperatures of up to 131 F 55 C They live in long white tubes which may grow to about 10 ft 3 m long The vent worm Riftia pachyptila lives at depths of over 1 mi 1 6 km in the Pacific Ocean Earthworms can consume up to one third of their own body weight in just one day
Slugs and Snails Slugs and snails are a type of mollusk known as gastropods which means stomach foot after their single slimy suction-pad of a foot-muscle which they use to creep along There are about 75,000 species of gastropods now known on land and in the sea which makes them the largest class of mollusks Slugs and snails eat plants and are considered pests as they devour crops and flowers Their mouths are lined with rows of tiny teeth that wear down one after the other What is the largest land snail The biggest land-dwelling snail in the world is the giant African snail It can weigh more than 1 lb 9 oz 900g which is nearly as much as a bag of sugar Its body can reach 15 in 39 cm long and its shell alone can be as large as 10 in 27 cm long That’s bigger than a soccer ball It has been introduced from Africa into other warm countries as a pet in zoos or as a source of food In many of these countries it is now a pest as it has no natural predators Gastropods like the garden snail have a one-part shell so they are called univalves For farmers the giant land snail is South East Asia’s most destructive pest How does the garden snail survive in dry weather The garden snail survives dry spells by finding as dark and damp a place as it can and then retreating far into its shell to preserve moisture It leaves a layer of mucus around the edges of the outside that dries and sticks tight to the surface it is on It also seals off the outside with dried mucus leaving a door A snail’s shell provides plenty of protection Its vital organs are housed within it and the shell grows in a spiral as the snail grows Like all mollusk shells a snail’s shell is made from a tough substance called calcium carbonate
Why do slugs and snails leave a trail of slime Like all slugs and snails the great black slug needs moisture to survive It travels along the ground over a layer of slimy mucus It is this mucus that causes its trail To produce this mucus its body needs to have a higher than average water content The great black slug eats rotting vegetation and even the dead bodies of other slugs It has a breathing hole behind its head on the right-hand side and like other slugs and snails it uses tentacles that can touch and smell to find food Like other gastropods slugs lay eggs When they hatch baby slugs look like miniature adults 0.5 in 1.3 cm per second at top speed That’s fast for a snail How fast is a garden snail Sea slugs are found mainly in the Red Sea and Indian and western Pacific Ocean slugs differ from land slugs How do sea Sea slugs belong to a completely different order of animals to slugs called Nudibranchia Instead of having a pair of lungs like land slugs sea slugs breathe through gills arranged in clumps on their backs that look a bit like plants Like their land dwelling relatives they are slow moving and do not have shells They have a nasty poisonous taste and warn predators of this by being among the most brightly colored animals in the sea
