{"id":14551,"date":"2009-04-21T03:13:53","date_gmt":"2009-04-21T03:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwphoto.onpressidium.com\/bobbit-worm\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T06:57:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T06:57:40","slug":"bobbit-worm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.uwphotographyguide.com\/bobbit-worm\/","title":{"rendered":"Bobbit worm – ambush predator, Eunice aphroditois"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bobbit worm, Eunice aphroditois, is a ferocious underwater predator. The bobbit worm, also known as the Eunice worm, can be found in sandy, mucky dive sites in many places of the world.<\/p>\n

Scuba diving sites where the bobbit worm has been seen includes Secret bay in Bali<\/a>, Indonesia – Police Pier & Nudie Retreat in Lembeh<\/a>, Indonesia – and Mainit Muck or Basura in Anilao<\/a>, Phillipines. This worm likes sandy and gravel substrates, that you would find on “muck” dives.<\/p>\n

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The bobbit worm has light and chemical receptors that cause it to lunge at fish when it thinks they are nearby. It has 5 antennae that house these sensory receptors.<\/p>\n

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Update <\/strong>– June 2009 – many bobbit worms have been seen at Air Prang dive site, Lembeh, Indonesia.<\/p>\n

Update <\/strong>– 2018 – bobbit worms are plentiful in Anilao, Philippines. Ask your guide where! (Hint – it’s dark, shallow, and there is lots of sand.)<\/p>\n

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Bobbit Worm Myths and Facts<\/h2>\n

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Bobbit worms are Polychaete <\/strong>worms in the phylum Annelida. I’ve also seen them called sand strikers<\/strong>, because of how quickly they appear to strike out of nowhere in the sand.<\/p>\n

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A common myth<\/strong> about the Bobbit Worm is that they got their name from the fact that the female worms cuts off the penis of the male worm after mating, and then feeds it to her young. This is actually not true.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Here’s some facts from Polychaete expert Leslie Harris at the Natural History Museum<\/a> in Los Angeles:<\/p>\n

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First off<\/strong>, Polychaetes don’t have penises or vaginas.  Most of them are what we call broadcast spawners which means the males & females spew out eggs & sperm into the water.  The eggs & sperm meet, the eggs get fertilized & start developing.  There is no such thing as mating\/copulation not do males & females come into contact.   Only a very few species exhibit parental care which is minimal.  It consists of the female creating a mucus cocoon for the eggs & keeping it clean or brooding the eggs within her own tube.  Some species of Marphysa (which are in the same family as the genus Eunice)  produce egg cocoons. Females do not care for larvae or juveniles & they certainly do not feed them.<\/p>\n

The association of “Bobbit” for Eunice aphroditois<\/em>  has 2 possible origins.  The 1st – and the one I heard way back when – is that the outstretched jaws resemble scissors.  The 2nd is that the erect worms reminded someone of an unattached penis.<\/p>\n

Bobbit worms don’t like bright lights. When searching for them underwater, we often wave our lights quickly and avoid shining a light directly on them for more than a second. A disturbed bobbit worm will often retract down into the sand for a long period of time.<\/p>\n

Bobbit worm claws and jaws<\/h2>\n

What you call the “claws” are jaws.  there are 2 types of jaw pieces – 1 pair of mandibles and 4-6 pairs of maxillae.  The big serrated hooked pieces are maxillae.  In the close up the 5 striped filaments are the antennae & palps – these carry the sensory receptors.  They have 1 pair of eyes at the base of the antennae but they may not play a big role in food capture.  Bobbit worms are ambush predators but if they’re really hungry they will scavenge for food around the opening to their burrows.<\/p>\n

Their mandibles are so strong, they can chop their prey right in half. I certainly would not want to give them my bare finger.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Leslie Harris<\/a> for this infomation.<\/p>\n

According to Wikepedia, the longest Bobbit worm on record is 299cm. That is almos 10 feet long! I’m not sure how “stretched out” that is.The ones that I’ve seen underwater do not appear to be that large, but it is difficult to tell because most of their body is down in their burrow.<\/p>\n

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Bobbit Worm Underwater Photo tips:<\/h2>\n