An enormous black worm that lives in the mud of the sea floor and survives on the remnants of noxious gases digested by bacteria has been unveiled by scientists for the first time. The slimy giant shipworm can grow up to 155 centimetres (five feet) in length, despite living a sedentary life in ocean sediment and apparently eating nothing more than the waste products of the micro-organisms that live in its gills. The shipworm is a not actually a worm at all, but a bivalve — like mussels and clams — and has its own brittle, tusk-like shell.

Sulphur-powered giant shipworm unearthed in Sultan Kudarat. (2017, April 20). Manila Bulletin, pp. 1, 6.