The Remarkable Beach Worms Hiding Beneath Australian Sands

Australia is known for its rich biodiversity. There are creatures living in the land down under that you can’t find anywhere else on the planet. For some Australian families, a fun day at the beach involves digging up to nine-foot-long skinny worms out of the sand and using them as fishing bait. A YouTube video posted by the channel, Fishing with Jollip, shows an Australian man collecting giant beach worms with his kids and going fishing.

What Are Giant Beach Worms?

These extremely long worms live under the sand on beaches near the low water mark. According to the Australian Museum, giant beach worms are common on the eastern and southeastern coasts. They are classified in the family Onuphidae and are known as polychaete worms. There are three main species of beach worms commonly found on Australian beaches. These are: Australonuphis parateres, Australonuphis teres, and Australonuphis mariahirsuta.

These marine worms are segmented with short tentacles on their head. They may have hundreds of segments. They are omnivores, popping out of their hole in the sand to feast on seaweed and dead fish. The worms are prey for birds and fish. They are also often caught by anglers to be used as bait.

How to Catch a Giant Beach Worm

In the video, Joey Urquhart, the owner of Jollip Lures, a lure-making company, gives instructions on how to catch beach worms for bait. Joey heads to the beach where the water is low and drags a piece of bait low across the sand. He’s watching for a hungry worm to peek its head out when it senses the food.

Joey tells us there are hundreds of worms under the sand. He soon finds one and manages to pull out what appears to be a several-feet-long worm. When you watch the video closely, you can see multiple little worm heads sticking out above the sand. It’s intriguing to think their bodies are buried feet deep below the surface. The worms live in burrows or tubes that they make under the sand, where they hide until they need to eat.

Giant Beach Worms Make Great Bait

Once Joey has caught enough worms, he shows the viewers how he winds them up around his hook for bait. Though the bait works, Joey and his family only manage to catch some small fish on this day.

According to the Australian Museum, catching beach worms is a popular activity for anglers. They either use their fingers, like Joey does in the video, or pliers to drag out the worm. The worms are plentiful and not endangered. Because it’s time-consuming to pull out the worms one by one, they aren’t likely to be overharvested. Unless you’re squeamish over long, skinny worms under the sand beneath your feet, this seems to be a convenient, cheap, and eco-friendly way to collect bait for fishing.

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