Creatures from the sewer

MrsMarsters · July 1st, 2009, 03:28 AM

The latest viral video is from the sewer under Cameron Village in Raleigh, NC. The mysterious creatures found are nothing short of disgusting and spectacular. This video has made its way to Video Sift and various cryptozoology sites. Speculations on the nature of this creature run from bryozoans, cnidarians, slime molds, and some mysterious alien creature here to suck out our brains. Well let me say first that it is none of the above. I can think of no freshwater Cnidarian that looks anything like this. It lacks the characteristic delineations that would indicate individual zooids in the colony and frankly the retracting of finger-like tentacles doesn’t seem like a bryozan characteristic (see the pictures at this site). In fact, I have poked a lot of invertebrates as lab instructor for invertebrate zoology and as a graduate student just for shits and giggles and none of the mentioned candidates would respond like this. So back to square one…

You shouldn’t trust me however…you should trust an expert in one of the aforementioned groups. Enter stage right Dr. Timothy S. Wood who is an expert on freshwater bryozoa and an officer with the International Bryozoology Association. I sent along the video and this was his reponse…

Thanks for the video – I had not see it before. No, these are not bryozoans! They are clumps of annelid worms, almost certainly tubificids (Naididae, probably genus Tubifex). Normally these occur in soil and sediment, especially at the bottom and edges of polluted streams. In the photo they have apparently entered a pipeline somehow, and in the absence of soil they are coiling around each other. The contractions you see are the result of a single worm contracting and then stimulating all the others to do the same almost simultaneously, so it looks like a single big muscle contracting. Interesting video.

Had no idea where this would go...it is really quite interesting..but disgusting.

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

buttmunch · July 1st, 2009, 05:51 AM

Can't quite bring myself to watch the video since this kind of stuff gives me the heebie jeebies but I'd say it might have gone in DEATH AND NOT LIVING? God, I'm going to have nightmares even without having seen it. Thanks, Mrs!

Aella · July 1st, 2009, 08:59 AM

Gross but fascinating.

MrsMarsters · July 1st, 2009, 05:02 PM

Welcome, those worms were more disgusting than the first video..nature can be so disgusting.

MoodyJenny86 · July 1st, 2009, 10:45 PM

I was hoping it'd be Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo.

BITTER · July 1st, 2009, 11:32 PM

Get rid of this.....I cannot watch it.

DolceVita · July 1st, 2009, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoodyJenny86

I was hoping it'd be Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo.

And Shredder!

I'm not watching these videos , nature is gross sometimes

SVZ · July 1st, 2009, 11:59 PM

ewwwww

ManxMouse · July 2nd, 2009, 11:24 AM

Should I say what this looks like?
Ok.
A throbbing, festering hemorrhoid on a slimy wet anus.
You're welcome.

BITTER · July 2nd, 2009, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ManxMouse

Should I say what this looks like?
Ok.
A throbbing, festering hemorrhoid on a slimy wet anus.
You're welcome.

Gawd - like, who have YOU been dating, right?

I think this is just camera tricks, but it still looks digusting.

lisalucy69 · July 2nd, 2009, 04:57 PM

My husband was watching this on another site last night and i happened to catch a glimpe. I honestly thought he was watching some sort of medical "scope" video. Like a colonoscopy or something. When i asked, he laughed at what i had thought. When i found out what it really was, I was no less creeped and grossed out. Yuck.