What is a spoonworm?
Special | 1m 37sVideo has Closed Captions
Get a close look at this aptly named invertebrate that was found in the Atlantic.
Sci NC Producer Rossie Izlar heads to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh for a closer look at the spoonworm. Found almost exclusively in the Atlantic Ocean, the spoonworm uses its handy proboscis to guide food to its mouth. Museum curator Bronwyn Williams puts one under the microscope to show us how.
SCI NC is a local public television program presented by PBS NC
PBS North Carolina and Sci NC appreciate the support of The NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
What is a spoonworm?
Special | 1m 37sVideo has Closed Captions
Sci NC Producer Rossie Izlar heads to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh for a closer look at the spoonworm. Found almost exclusively in the Atlantic Ocean, the spoonworm uses its handy proboscis to guide food to its mouth. Museum curator Bronwyn Williams puts one under the microscope to show us how.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- Animals without backbones make up 97% of all life on the planet.
Things like worms, crabs, beetles, sponges, they're the little things that make the world go round.
And there are thousands of them here in this collection at the Museum of Natural Sciences and today we're putting one of them, this four inch spoon worm under the scope.
The spoon worm or Echiura is so-called for its spoon-like proboscis.
The worm uses it to bring organic matter or detritus to its mouth which is located at the base of the proboscis.
Spoon worms live almost exclusively in the Atlantic Ocean which is where museum curator Bronwyn Williams found this one.
- This was a really exciting find.
So it uses its proboscis to actually move across the substrate by extending it, kind of grasping hold of something and then pulling and dragging itself.
And you can actually see a little bit of mucus hanging off that.
So it uses that, that mucus to trap the, the detritus to basically, yeah, it's sort of like a sticky, sticky trap.
- [Host] Here's another weird thing about spoon worms.
A larger species known as the inkeeper spoon worm are a delicacy in South Korea.
It's most often eaten raw and can be sweet and chewy.
Like all invertebrates, spoon worms are a valuable nutrient recycler and good eating for lots of species.
They're also surprisingly elegant.
- [Bronwyn] This is just amazing to watch.
There's a lot about nature that blows my mind.
SCI NC is a local public television program presented by PBS NC
PBS North Carolina and Sci NC appreciate the support of The NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.