The giant shipworm has mostly been known for its elephant tusk-like shells. Now we’ve finally found some live ones - they eat noxious mud and smell like rotten eggs
The first known living sample of a giant, ancient mollusc that previously was known almost exclusively by its shells has been recovered from the Philippines.
A team of researchers have finally come across a live colony of giant shipworms, or Kuphus polythalamia. Washed-up, empty, elephant tusk-like shells first hinted at the existence of this metre-long animal in the 18th century, and there are a few specimens preserved in ethanol in collections around the world. But no one knew exactly what lay within – until now.
Daniel Distel at the Ocean Genome Legacy Center at Northeastern University in Boston and his colleagues were made aware of the animal’s potential location in 2010, when a collaborator pointed out a news story from Philippine TV featuring a local trying to eat one for its supposed medicinal properties. “[It was] amazing! I’ve been looking for them for 20 years,” Distel says. “My friend and mentor Ruth Turner looked for her whole career.”
The TV footage sparked an international search for the giant shipworm. Local researchers embarked on two expeditions, one in 2010 and one in 2011. During the second expedition, they found live specimens of K. polythalamia and transported them to the University of the Philippines to be analysed.
“It’s hard not to be amazed when seeing one in the flesh, even if you know nothing about them,” Distel says. “There is no other animal like them.”
